Phase tracking reference signal design for single carrier waveform

ABSTRACT

One or more computer-readable media (CRM) are disclosed. The CRM include instructions to, upon execution of the instructions by one or more processors of a base station, cause the base station to: generate a phase tracking reference signal (PT-RS) for phase shift compensation; and transmit the PT-RS across a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) using a single-carrier based waveform comprising a carrier frequency. The single-carrier based waveform may be SC-FDE or DFT-s-OFDM.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) of U.S.Provisional Application No. 62/789,282, filed Jan. 7, 2019, which ishereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

FIELD

Various embodiments generally may relate to the field of wirelesscommunications.

BACKGROUND

Mobile communication has evolved significantly from early voice systemsto today's highly sophisticated integrated communication platform. Thenext generation wireless communication system, 5G, or new radio (NR)will provide access to information and sharing of data anywhere, anytimeby various users and applications. NR is expected to be a unifiednetwork/system that target and meet vastly different and sometimeconflicting performance dimensions and services. Such diversemulti-dimensional requirements are driven by different services andapplications. In general, NR will evolve based on 3GPP LTE-Advanced withadditional potential new Radio Access Technologies (RATs) to enrichpeople lives with better and seamless wireless connectivity solutions.NR will enable everything connected by wireless and deliver fast, richcontent and services.

BRIEF SUMMARY

In general, in one aspect, embodiments are related to one or morecomputer readable media (CRM). The CRM comprise instructions to, uponexecution of the instructions by one or more processors of a basestation, cause the base station to: generate a phase tracking referencesignal (PT-RS) for phase shift compensation; and transmit the PT-RSacross a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) using a single-carrierbased waveform comprising a carrier frequency.

In general, in one aspect, embodiments are related to a method foroperating user equipment (UE). The method comprises generating a phasetracking reference signal (PT-RS) for phase shift compensation; andtransmitting the PT-RS across a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH)using a single carrier with frequency domain equalizer (SC-FDE).

In general, in one aspect, embodiments are related to an apparatus of abase station. The apparatus comprises: processor circuitry configured togenerate a phase tracking reference signal (PT-RS) for phase shiftcompensation; and radio frequency circuitry configured to transmit thePT-RS across a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) using asingle-carrier based waveform comprising a carrier frequency.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates multiple transmission schemes in accordance with oneor more embodiments.

FIG. 2 illustrates one example of separate coding and modulation chainfor PT-RS and data in accordance with one or more embodiments.

FIG. 3 illustrates one example of same coding and separate modulationchain for PT-RS and data in accordance with one or more embodiments.

FIG. 4 illustrates one example of PT-RS pattern for SC-FED waveform inaccordance with one or more embodiments.

FIGS. 5, 6A, and 6B illustrate example architectures of a system inaccordance with one or more embodiments.

FIG. 7A illustrates example infrastructure equipment in accordance withone or more embodiments.

FIG. 7B illustrates an example platform in accordance with one or moreembodiments.

FIG. 8 illustrates example components of baseband circuitry and radiofront end modules (RFEM) in accordance with one or more embodiments.

FIG. 9 illustrates various protocol functions that may be implemented ina wireless communication device in accordance with one or moreembodiments.

FIG. 10 illustrates components of a core network in accordance withvarious embodiments.

FIG. 11 illustrates components of a system to support NFV in accordancewith one or more embodiments.

FIG. 12 illustrates example components able to read instructions from amachine-readable or computer-readable medium.

FIG. 13, FIG. 14A, and FIG. 14B illustrate flowcharts in accordance withone or more embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following detailed description refers to the accompanying drawings.The same reference numbers may be used in different drawings to identifythe same or similar elements. In the following description, for purposesof explanation and not limitation, specific details are set forth suchas particular structures, architectures, interfaces, techniques, etc. inorder to provide a thorough understanding of the various aspects ofvarious embodiments. However, it will be apparent to those skilled inthe art having the benefit of the present disclosure that the variousaspects of the various embodiments may be practiced in other examplesthat depart from these specific details. In certain instances,descriptions of well-known devices, circuits, and methods are omitted soas not to obscure the description of the various embodiments withunnecessary detail. For the purposes of the present document, the phrase“A or B” means (A), (B), or (A and B). Moreover, a list of abbreviationsis provided towards the end of the detailed description.

In one or more embodiments, in NR Release 15, system design is based oncarrier frequencies up to 52.6 GHz with a waveform choice of cyclicprefix-orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (CP-OFDM) for DL andUL, and additionally, Discrete Fourier Transform-spread-OFDM(DFT-s-OFDM) for UL. However, for carrier frequency above 52.6 GHz, itis envisioned that single carrier based waveform is needed in order tohandle issues including low power amplifier (PA) efficiency and largephase noise.

In one or more embodiments, for single carrier based waveform, includingDFT-s-OFDM and single carrier with frequency domain equalizer (SC-FDE)may be considered for both DL and UL. FIG. 1 illustrates a transmissionscheme of OFDM and SC-FDE systems, respectively. For OFDM basedtransmission scheme including DFT-s-OFDM, a cyclic prefix (CP) 189 maybe inserted at the beginning of each block, where the last data symbolsin a block is repeated as the CP. Typically, the length of CP exceedsthe maximum expected delay spread in order to overcome the inter-symbolinterference (ISI).

For SC-FDE transmission scheme, a known sequence (guard interval (GI)198, unique word (UW), etc.) may be inserted at both the beginning andend of one block. Further, a linear equalizer in the frequency domainmay be employed to reduce the receiver complexity. Compared to OFDM,SC-FDE transmission scheme can reduce Peak to Average Power Ratio (PAPR)and thus allow the use of less costly power amplifier.

In one or more embodiments, in NR Rel-15, a phase tracking referencesignal (PT-RS) is inserted in the physical downlink shared channel(PDSCH) and physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH), which may be used tophase shift compensation in each symbol caused by phase noise andfrequency offset. The PT-RS pattern in time and frequency may bedetermined in accordance with the modulation and coding scheme (MCS) anddata transmission bandwidth.

In one or more embodiments, for PT-RS associated with PUSCH usingDFT-s-OFDM waveform, PT-RS may be inserted in the data prior to DFToperation. Further, group based PT-RS pattern may be employed forDFT-s-OFDM waveform. In this case, multiple groups of PT-RS samples aredistributed within symbol, where each group has 2 or 4 samples forPT-RS.

In one or more embodiments, for systems operating above 52.6 GHz carrierfrequency, when DFT-s-OFDM waveform is applied for DL transmission andwhen SC-FDE waveform is used for both DL and UL transmission,enhancement on PT-RS design for single carrier based waveform may beneeded.

One or more embodiments are directed towards a PT-RS design for singlecarrier waveform for systems operating in excess of 52.6 GHz carrierfrequency. These embodiments may include a PT-RS design for DFT-s-OFDMwaveform for DL transmission and a PT-RS design for SC-FDE waveform forboth DL and UL transmission.

PT-RS Design for DFT-s-OFDM Waveform for DL Transmission

As mentioned above, DFT-s-OFDM waveform may be employed for the DLtransmission for system operating above 52.6 GHz carrier frequency,including embodiments of PT-RS design for DFT-s-OFDM waveform for DLtransmission.

In one or more embodiments, group based PT-RS pattern may be applied forDFT-s-OFDM waveform for DL transmission, where each group occupies Kconsecutive samples in time domain prior to DFT operation. PT-RS for ULDFT-s-OFDM waveform may be employed. In another example, the PT-RSshould be inserted in the middle of the samples for a symbol in uniformmanner.

In one or more embodiments, the presence of PT-RS may depend on theRadio Network Temporary Identifier (RNTI) scheduling the correspondingPDSCH and/or PUSCH. During initial access, for common control messageincluding the PDSCH scheduled by PDCCH with P-RNTI, SI-RNTI andRA-RANTI, PT-RS is not present. Similarly, for PUSCH transmissionscheduled by PDCCH with TC-RNTI, PT-RS is not present. Alternatively,PT-RS may be present when PDCCH is associated with those types of RNTIbased on a predefined pattern.

In one or more embodiments, a default PT-RS pattern may be defined intime and frequency for DFT-s-OFDM waveform. When PDSCH or PUSCHscheduled by PDCCH with C-RNTI, CS-RNTI and/or MCS-RNTI, and the PDCCHformat is fall back DCI format, e.g., including DCI format 0_0 and 1_0,the default PT-RS pattern may be applied, or PT-RS shall not be present.

Note that the above options to determine the presence of PT-RS and thedefault PT-RS pattern for DFT-s-OFDM waveforms may also be applied forthat for SC-FDE waveform.

In one or more embodiments, for multiple transmit-receive point(multi-TRP) or multiple panels based operation, orthogonal cover code(OCC) may be applied for the transmission of PT-RS from different panelsor different TRPs. The OCC may be determined by DMRS antenna port(s)group index g and/or DMRS antenna port p. In one example, OCC index maybe determined by p mod K. In another example, OCC index may bedetermined by (p mod K+g) mod K.

The group size K may be determined by the maximum number of DMRS ports.In one example, K should be the same as the number of DMRS ports whenPT-RS is present.

In one or more embodiments, if different RNTI is configured by differentTRPs, the OCC may be determined by RNTI associated with the PDCCH orconfigured by higher layer signaling. In one example, the OCC index maybe determined by RATA/mod K.

Note that the above embodiment for the application of OCC and the OCCindication can also be applied for the SC-FDF, waveform.

PT-RS Design for SC-FDE Waveform for DL and UL Transmission

In one or more embodiments, for single carrier waveform including SC-FDEwaveform, data transmission is generally block-based for frequencydomain equalization (FDE). To reduce channel equalization computationcost, a GI of a known sequence or unique word (UW) is inserted beforeand after each data block. In this case, a GI known to the receiver maybe used to compensate the phase shift caused by phase noise andfrequency offset. However, as the GI is located before and after datatransmission, it may not always be sufficient to estimate and compensatecommon phase error by solely relying on the GI's for a relatively largeblock size. In this regards, PT-RS may be inserted within a data blockin order to finely estimate and compensate the common phase error andthereby improve the performance. The definition of PT-RS for SC-FDEwaveform consists of its sequence generation methods and patterns. Thepatterns determine group density of PT-RS samples in a data block andthe number of samples for occurrence group.

In one or more embodiments, the PT-RS sequence is generated inaccordance with at least one of the following parameters:sub-block/block/slot/frame index, virtual cell ID or physical cell ID orRNTI or higher layer configured ID used for DMRS sequence generation forthe DMRS port that the PT-RS is associated with.

In one or more embodiments, the PT-RS sequence generation may beinitialized as

c _(init)=(2¹⁷(N _(block) ^(slot) n _(s,f) ^(μ) +l+1)(2N _(ID)+1)+2N_(ID))mod 2³¹

Where N_(block) ^(slot) is the number of blocks in a slot, n_(s,f) ^(μ)is the slot index, l is the lowest block index which contains PT-RS.N_(ID) is configured by higher layers, and equal to physical cell ID ifnot configured.

In one or more embodiments, PT-RS may be generated based on the GIsequence. In one option, PT-RS sequence may be repeated version of theGI sequence. In case PT-RS length is less than GI length, PT-RS sequenceis the first part of GI sequence.

Additionally or alternatively, same modulated symbol may be used forPT-RS transmission. More specifically, the last symbol in the GI beforethe data block may be repeated and used for PT-RS transmission.

In one or more embodiments, power boosting may be applied for thetransmission of PT-RS. In one example, a power scaling factor as definedin Table 6.2.3.2-1 in TS38.214 [1] may be employed for the transmissionof PT-RS.

Similarly, the power boosting may be applied for the transmission of GI.

In one or more embodiments, PT-RS may be generated based on a portion ofinformation bits for data transmission. In order to allow the receiverto successfully decode the PT-RS and employ the decoded PT-RS for phaseerror compensation, the modulation order of PT-RS transmission may belower than that of associated data transmission. For instance, if highorder modulation, e.g., 64QAM is used for the data transmission, QPSKmay be used for the transmission of PT-RS.

In one or more embodiments, the modulation order of PT-RS may bepredetermined in the specification, e.g., BPSK or QPSK may be employedfor the transmission of PT-RS. In another option, the modulation orderof PT-RS may be configured by higher layers or dynamically indicated byDCI or a combination thereof. Yet in another option, the modulationorder of PT-RS may be determined in accordance with the modulation orderof data transmission. For instance, if modulation order of datatransmission is 6 or 64QAM, the modulation order of PT-RS is 4 or 16QAM;if modulation order of data transmission is 4 or 16QAM, the modulationorder of PT-RS is 2 or QPSK.

In one or more embodiments to generate the PT-RS sequence, two optionsmay be considered. In one option, a separate encoding and modulationchain is used for the transmission of PT-RS and data, respectively. Inparticular, the information bits are partitioned into two portions,where the first portion is encoded, and modulated and mapped to thePT-RS samples, where the second portion is encoded, and modulated andmapped to the data samples. Note that the encoding scheme between thePT-RS and data may be same or different. A codeword of PT-RS iscorrespond to a SC-FDE waveform block. FIG. 2 illustrates one example ofseparate coding and modulation chain for PT-RS and data. Referring toFIG. 2, after demux 201, first encoder 202 encodes PT-RS prior tomodulation by modulator 206, and second encoder 204 encodes data priorto modulation by modulator 208.

In one or more embodiments, same coding but separate modulation schemesare applied for the transmission of PT-RS and data. In particular, afterencoding, the encoded bits are partitioned into two portions, where afirst portion is modulated and mapped to the PT-RS samples, where asecond portion is modulated and mapped to data samples. FIG. 3illustrates one example of same coding and separate modulation chain forPT-RS and data. The PT-RS bits in this example may be encoded furtherbefore modulation, which leads to a combination of these two options.Referring to FIG. 3, LDPC encoder 302 encodes information bits includingboth PT-RS and data, prior to demux 304 to provide separate PT-RS anddata. After which, modulator 306 modulates the PT-RS and modulator 308modulates the data.

In one or more embodiments, control information may be carried by PT-RS.In one example, uplink control information piggybacked on the physicaluplink shared channel (PUSCH) may be carried by PT-RS. In this case, alower modulation order may, be used for the transmission of UCI comparedto that for PUSCH.

In one or more embodiments, PT-RS pattern in time domain may bedetermined in accordance with MCS of the scheduled data transmissionand/or transmission duration in time and/or configured by higher layersvia radio resource control (RRC) signaling or dynamically indicated inthe downlink control information (DCI) or a combination thereof. Notethat the transmission duration may be defined in terms of the number ofblocks or sub-blocks scheduled for data transmission.

Additionally or alternatively, in case when bandwidth part (BWP) isemployed for the transmission of data channel, PT-RS pattern in timedomain may be determined in accordance with the bandwidth of BWP.Generally, the larger the BWP, the denser the PT-RS pattern. PT-RS isgenerally partitioned into a number of groups which are distributedwithin a data block. The PT-RS groups may be either randomly distributedor spread based on some specific patterns. The number of samples in aPT-RS group may be same or different.

In one or more embodiments, the presence of PT-RS depends on the MCS ofassociated data transmission. When MCS is less than or equal to a MCSthreshold, the PT-RS is not present. The MCS threshold may be predefinedin the specification. In another example, for data transmission withBPSK and/or QPSK modulation, PT-RS is not present.

In one or more embodiments, the PT-RS group pattern for SC-FDE waveformtransmission depends on the number of samples within one data block.Table 1 illustrates one example of the PT-RS pattern for SC-FDEwaveform. In the table, N_(samples, i) and N_(samples, i+1) are somepositive integers and may be configured by higher layers; N_(samples) isthe number of samples used in a block for SC-FDE waveform for thecorresponding data transmission, which may be configured by higherlayers or dynamically indicated in the DCI or a combination thereof.

In one or more embodiments, the number of groups N_(Group,i) and thenumber of samples in each group K_(Samples,1) may be predefined. In casethe scheduled data transmission duration is less than N_(Samples,0),PT-RS for the corresponding data transmission is not present. The PT-RSgroups may uniformly distributed within the data block.

TABLE 1 PT-RS pattern as a function of scheduled transmission durationin a data block Number of Number of samples Number of samples per withinone data block PT-RS groups PT-RS group N_(samples, 0) ≤ N_(samples) <N_(samples, 1) N_(Group, 0) K_(Samples, 0) N_(samples, 1) ≤ N_(samples)< N_(samples, 2) N_(Group, 1) K_(Samples, 1) . . . . . . . . .N_(samples, M) ≤ N_(samples) < N_(samples, M+1) N_(Group, M)K_(Samples, M)

In one or more embodiments, when sampling rate adaptation is applied,i.e., the number of samples within a block is reduced, the PT-RS grouppattern associated with corresponding data transmission may be adjustedaccordingly. In one option, the number of samples within a block ortotal number of samples for the scheduled data transmission are includedin the Table 1 in order to determine the number of PT-RS groups and thenumber of samples per PT-RS groups within one block.

Additionally or alternatively, the PT-RS group pattern may be adjustedin accordance with the sampling rate adaptation ratio. In one example,based on the sampling rate adaptation, the number of samples is reducedby a factor of M_(ratio), the number of groups and the number of samplesin each group for PT-RS may be reduced accordingly to

$\left\lceil \frac{N_{Groups}}{M_{ratio}} \right\rceil\mspace{14mu}{and}\mspace{14mu}\left\lceil \frac{K_{sample}}{M_{ratio}} \right\rceil$

respectively, where N_(Groups) and K_(sample) are the number of groupsand the number of samples per group defined in Table 1 for the referencesampling rate.

In one or more embodiments, for SC-FDE waveform, GI may be used togetherwith PT-RS for common phase error compensation. In this case, PT-RS maynot be located adjacent to the GI. Further, PT-RS may be located in themiddle of one data block or sub-block.

In one or more embodiments, the PT-RS groups are uniformly distributedwithin one data or sub-block. Assuming the number of groups N_(group)and the number of samples in each group K_(sample), and the total numberof samples for data within block as K_(data), the position of PT-RSsamples within a block may be

${s\left\lfloor \frac{K_{data}}{N_{group} + 1} \right\rfloor} + k$

Where s=1,2, . . . , N_(group) and k=0, 1, . . . , K_(sample)−1 ork=−K_(sample), . . . , −1. In another example,

${{k = {{- \left\lbrack \frac{K_{sample}}{2} \right\rfloor} + 1}},\ldots\mspace{14mu},{\left\lfloor \frac{K_{sample}}{2} \right\rfloor\mspace{14mu}{or}}}\mspace{14mu}$${k = {- \left\lfloor \frac{K_{sample}}{2} \right\rfloor}},\ldots\mspace{14mu},{\left\lfloor \frac{K_{sample}}{2} \right\rfloor - 1}$

FIG. 4 illustrates one example of PT-RS pattern for SC-FED waveform. In

FIG. 4, the number of PT-RS groups 402 is uniformly distributed withinone data block 404. Further, the number of PT-RS groups is 2 (402 a and402 b) and the number of samples per group is 4.

In one or more embodiments, the starting position of PT-RS group may bedetermined as a function of cell ID and/or RNTI and/or DMRS port indexthe PT-RS is associated with and/or a higher layer configured ID for theDMRS sequence generation for DMRS port the PT-RS associated with.

In one or more embodiments, the starting samples of PT-RS may be givenas

k _(ref) =n _(RNTI) mod N _(ref)

Where n_(RNTI) is the RNTI associated with the DCI scheduling thetransmission, k_(ref) is the starting samples of PT-RS, N_(ref) may beconfigured by higher layers or predefined in the specification. In oneexample,

$N_{ref} = \left\lfloor \frac{K_{d\alpha ta}}{N_{group} + 1} \right\rfloor$

FIG. 5 illustrates an example architecture of a system 100 of a network,in accordance with various embodiments. The following description isprovided for an example system 100 that operates in conjunction with theLTE system standards and 5G or NR system standards as provided by 3GPPtechnical specifications. However, the example embodiments are notlimited in this regard and the described embodiments may apply to othernetworks that benefit from the principles described herein, such asfuture 3GPP systems (e.g., Sixth Generation (6G)) systems, IEEE 802.16protocols (e.g., WMAN, WiMAX, etc.), or the like.

As shown by FIG. 5, the system 100 includes UE 101 a and UE 101 b(collectively referred to as “UEs 101” or “UE 101”). In this example,UEs 101 are illustrated as smartphones (e.g., handheld touchscreenmobile computing devices connectable to one or more cellular networks),but may also comprise any mobile or non-mobile computing device, such asconsumer electronics devices, cellular phones, smartphones, featurephones, tablet computers, wearable computer devices, personal digitalassistants (PDAs), pagers, wireless handsets, desktop computers, laptopcomputers, in-vehicle infotainment (WI), in-car entertainment (ICE)devices, an Instrument Cluster (IC), head-up display (HUD) devices,onboard diagnostic (OBD) devices, dashtop mobile equipment (DMF), mobiledata terminals (MDTs), Electronic Engine Management System (EEMS),electronic/engine control units (ECUs), electronic/engine controlmodules (ECMs), embedded systems, microcontrollers, control modules,engine management systems (EMS), networked or “smart” appliances, MTCdevices, M2M, IoT devices, and/or the like.

In some embodiments, any of the UEs 101 may be IoT UEs, which maycomprise a network access layer designed for low-power IoT applicationsutilizing short-lived UE connections. An IoT UE can utilize technologiessuch as M2M or MTC for exchanging data with an MTC server or device viaa PLMN, ProSe or D2D communication, sensor networks, or IoT networks.The M2M or MTC exchange of data may be a machine-initiated exchange ofdata. An IoT network describes interconnecting IoT UEs, which mayinclude uniquely identifiable embedded computing devices (within theInternet infrastructure), with short-lived connections. The IoT UEs mayexecute background applications (e.g., keep-alive messages, statusupdates, etc.) to facilitate the connections of the IoT network.

The UEs 101 may be configured to connect, for example, communicativelycouple, with an or RAN 110. In embodiments, the RAN 110 may be an NG RANor a 5G RAN, an E-UTRAN, or a legacy RAN, such as a UTRAN or GERAN. Asused herein, the term “NG RAN” or the like may refer to a RAN 110 thatoperates in an NR or 5G system 100, and the term “E-UTRAN” or the likemay refer to a RAN 110 that operates in an LTE or 4G system 100. The UEs101 utilize connections (or channels) 103 and 104, respectively, each ofwhich comprises a physical communications interface or layer (discussedin further detail below).

In this example, the connections 103 and 104 are illustrated as an airinterface to enable communicative coupling, and may be consistent withcellular communications protocols, such as a GSM protocol, a CDMAnetwork protocol, a PTT protocol, a POC protocol, a UMTS protocol, a3GPP LIE protocol, a 5G protocol, a NR protocol, and/or any of the othercommunications protocols discussed herein. In embodiments, the UEs 101may directly exchange communication data via a ProSe interface 105. TheProSe interface 105 may alternatively be referred to as a SL interface105 and may comprise one or more logical channels, including but notlimited to a PSSCH, a PSSCH, a PSDCH, and a PSBCH.

The UE 101 b is shown to be configured to access an AP 106 (alsoreferred to as “WLAN node 106,” “WLAN 106,” “WLAN Termination 106,” “WT106” or the like) via connection 107. The connection 107 can comprise alocal wireless connection, such as a connection consistent with any IEEE802.11 protocol, wherein the AP 106 would comprise a wireless fidelity(Wi-Fi®) router. In this example, the AP 106 is shown to be connected tothe Internet without connecting to the core network of the wirelesssystem (described in further detail below). In various embodiments, theUE 101 b, RAN 110, and AP 106 may be configured to utilize LWA operationand/or LWIP operation. The LWA operation may involve the UE 101 b inRRC_CONNECTED being configured by a RAN node 111 a-b to utilize radioresources of LTE and WLAN. LWIP operation may involve the UE 101 b usingWLAN radio resources (e.g., connection 107) via IPsec protocol tunnelingto authenticate and encrypt packets (e.g., IP packets) sent over theconnection 107. IPsec tunneling may include encapsulating the entiretyof original IP packets and adding a new packet header, therebyprotecting the original header of the IP packets.

The RAN 110 can include one or more AN nodes or RAN nodes 111 a and 111b (collectively referred to as “RAN nodes 111” or “RAN node 111”) thatenable the connections 103 and 104. As used herein, the terms “accessnode,” “access point,” or the like may describe equipment that providesthe radio baseband functions for data and/or voice connectivity betweena network and one or more users. These access nodes may be referred toas BS, gNBs, RAN nodes, eNBs, NodeBs, RSUs, TRxPs or TRPs, and so forth,and can comprise ground stations (e.g., terrestrial access points) orsatellite stations providing coverage within a geographic area (e.g., acell). As used herein, the term “NG RAN node” or the like may refer to aRAN node 111 that operates in an NR or 5G system 100 (for example, agNB), and the term “E-UTRAN node” or the like may refer to a RAN node111 that operates in an LTE or 4G system 100 (e.g., an eNB). Accordingto various embodiments, the RAN nodes 111 may be implemented as one ormore of a dedicated physical device such as a macrocell base station,and/or a low power (LP) base station for providing femtocells, picocellsor other like cells having smaller coverage areas, smaller usercapacity, or higher bandwidth compared to macrocells.

In some embodiments, all or parts of the RAN nodes 111 may beimplemented as one or more software entities running on server computersas part of a virtual network, which may be referred to as a CRAN and/ora virtual baseband unit pool (vBBUP). In these embodiments, the CRAN orvBBUP may implement a RAN function split, such as a PDCP split whereinRRC and PDCP layers are operated by the CRAN/vBBUP and other L2 protocolentities are operated by individual RAN nodes 111; a MAC/PHY splitwherein RRC, PDCP, RLC, and MAC layers are operated by the CRAN/vBBUPand the PHY layer is operated by individual RAN nodes 111; or a “lowerPHY” split wherein RRC, PDCP, RLC, MAC layers and upper portions of thePHY layer are operated by the CRAN/vBBUP and lower portions of the PHYlayer are operated by individual RAN nodes 111. This virtualizedframework allows the freed-up processor cores of the RAN nodes 111 toperform other virtualized applications. In some implementations, anindividual RAN node 111 may represent individual gNB-DUs that areconnected to a gNB-CU via individual F1 interfaces (not shown by FIG.5). In these implementations, the gNB-DUs may include one or more remoteradio heads or RFEMs (see, e.g., FIG. 7A), and the gNB-CU may beoperated by a server that is located in the RAN 110 (not shown) or by aserver pool in a similar manner as the CRAN/vBRUP. Additionally oralternatively, one or more of the RAN nodes 111 may be next generationeNBs (ng-eNBs), which are RAN nodes that provide E-UTRA user plane andcontrol plane protocol terminations toward the UEs 101, and areconnected to a 5GC (e.g., CN 220B of FIG. 6B) via an NG interface(discussed infra).

In V2X scenarios one or more of the RAN nodes 111 may be or act as RSUs.The term “Road Side Unit” or “RSU” may refer to any transportationinfrastructure entity used for V2X communications. An RSU may beimplemented in or by a suitable RAN node or a stationary (or relativelystationary) UE, where an RSU implemented in or by a UE may be referredto as a “UE-type RSU,” an RSU implemented in or by an eNB may bereferred to as an “eNB-type RSU,” an RSU implemented in or by a gNB maybe referred to as a “gNB-type RSU,” and the like. In one example, an RSUis a computing device coupled with radio frequency circuitry located ona roadside that provides connectivity support to passing vehicle UEs 101(vUEs 101). The RSU may also include internal data storage circuitry tostore intersection map geometry, traffic statistics, media, as well asapplications/software to sense and control ongoing vehicular andpedestrian traffic. The RSU may operate on the 5.9 GHz Direct ShortRange Communications (DSRC) band to provide very low latencycommunications required for high speed events, such as crash avoidance,traffic warnings, and the like. Additionally or alternatively, the RSUmay operate on the cellular V2X band to provide the aforementioned lowlatency communications, as well as other cellular communicationsservices. Additionally or alternatively, the RSU may operate as a Wi-Fihotspot (2.4 GHz band) and/or provide connectivity to one or morecellular networks to provide uplink and downlink communications. Thecomputing device(s) and some or all of the radiofrequency circuitry ofthe RSU may be packaged in a weatherproof enclosure suitable for outdoorinstallation, and may include a network interface controller to providea wired connection (e.g., Ethernet) to a traffic signal controllerand/or a backhaul network.

Any of the RAN nodes 111 can terminate the air interface protocol andmay be the first point of contact for the UEs 101. In some embodiments,any of the RAN nodes 111 can fulfill various logical functions for theRAN 110 including, but not limited to, radio network controller (RNC)functions such as radio bearer management, uplink and downlink dynamicradio resource management and data packet scheduling, and mobilitymanagement.

In embodiments, the UEs 101 may be configured to communicate using OFDMcommunication signals with each other or with any of the RAN nodes 111over a multicarrier communication channel in accordance with variouscommunication techniques, such as, but not limited to, an OFDMAcommunication technique (e.g., for downlink communications) or a SC-FDMAcommunication technique (e.g., for uplink and ProSe or sidelinkcommunications), although the scope of the embodiments is not limited inthis respect. The OFDM signals can comprise a plurality of orthogonalsubcarriers.

In some embodiments, a downlink resource grid may be used for downlinktransmissions from any of the RAN nodes 111 to the UEs 101, while uplinktransmissions can utilize similar techniques. The grid may be atime-frequency grid, called a resource grid or time-frequency resourcegrid, which is the physical resource in the downlink in each slot. Sucha time-frequency plane representation is a common practice for OFDMsystems, which makes it intuitive for radio resource allocation. Eachcolumn and each row of the resource grid corresponds to one OFDM symboland one OFDM subcarrier, respectively. The duration of the resource gridin the time domain corresponds to one slot in a radio frame. Thesmallest time-frequency unit in a resource grid is denoted as a resourceelement. Each resource grid comprises a number of resource blocks, whichdescribe the mapping of certain physical channels to resource elements.Each resource block comprises a collection of resource elements; in thefrequency domain, this may represent the smallest quantity of resourcesthat currently may be allocated. There are several different physicaldownlink channels that are conveyed using such resource blocks.

According to various embodiments, the UEs 101, 102 and the RAN nodes111, 112 communicate data (for example, transmit and receive) data overa licensed medium (also referred to as the “licensed spectrum” and/orthe “licensed band”) and an unlicensed shared medium (also referred toas the “unlicensed spectrum” and/or the “unlicensed band”). The licensedspectrum may include channels that operate in the frequency range ofapproximately 400 MHz to approximately 3.8 GHz, whereas the unlicensedspectrum may include the 5 GHz band.

To operate in the unlicensed spectrum, the UEs 101, 102 and the RANnodes 111, 112 may operate using LAA, eLAA, and/or feLAA mechanisms. Inthese implementations, the UEs 101, 102 and the RAN nodes 111, 112 mayperform one or more known medium-sensing operations and/orcarrier-sensing operations in order to determine whether one or morechannels in the unlicensed spectrum is unavailable or otherwise occupiedprior to transmitting in the unlicensed spectrum. The medium/carriersensing operations may be performed according to a listen-before-talk(LBT) protocol.

LBT is a mechanism whereby equipment (for example, UEs 101, 102, RANnodes 111, 112, etc.) senses a medium (for example, a channel or carrierfrequency) and transmits when the medium is sensed to be idle (or when aspecific channel in the medium is sensed to be unoccupied). The mediumsensing operation may include CCA, which utilizes at least ED todetermine the presence or absence of other signals on a channel in orderto determine if a channel is occupied or clear. This LBT mechanismallows cellular/LAA networks to coexist with incumbent systems in theunlicensed spectrum and with other LAA networks. ED may include sensingRF energy across an intended transmission band for a period of time andcomparing the sensed RF energy to a predefined or configured threshold.

Typically, the incumbent systems in the 5 GHz band are WLANs based onIEEE 802.11 technologies. WLAN employs a contention-based channel accessmechanism, called CSMA/CA. Here, when a WLAN node (e.g., a mobilestation (MS) such as LTE 101 or 102, AP 106, or the like) intends totransmit, the WLAN node may first perform CCA before transmission.Additionally, a backoff mechanism is used to avoid collisions insituations where more than one WLAN node senses the channel as idle andtransmits at the same time. The backoff mechanism may be a counter thatis drawn randomly within the CWS, which is increased exponentially uponthe occurrence of collision and reset to a minimum value when thetransmission succeeds. The LBT mechanism designed for LAA is somewhatsimilar to the CSMA/CA of WLAN. In some implementations, the LBTprocedure for DL or UL transmission bursts including PDSCH or PUSCHtransmissions, respectively, may have an LAA contention window that isvariable in length between X and Y ECCA slots, where X and Y are minimumand maximum values for the CWSs for LAA. In one example, the minimum CWSfor an LAA transmission may be 9 microseconds (μs); however, the size ofthe CWS and a MCOT (for example, a transmission burst) may be based ongovernmental regulatory requirements.

The LAA mechanisms are built upon CA technologies of LTE-Advancedsystems. In CA, each aggregated carrier i s referred to as a CC. A CCmay have a bandwidth of 1.4, 3, 5, 10, 15 or 20 MHz and a maximum offive CCs may be aggregated, and therefore, a maximum aggregatedbandwidth is 100 MHz. In FDD systems, the number of aggregated carriersmay be different for DL and UL, where the number of UL CCs is equal toor lower than the number of DL component carriers. In some cases,individual CCs can have a different bandwidth than other CCs. In TDDsystems, the number of CCs as well as the bandwidths of each CC isusually the same for DL and UL.

CA also comprises individual serving cells to provide individual CCs.The coverage of the serving cells may differ, for example, because CCson different frequency bands will experience different pathloss. Aprimary service cell or PCell may provide a PCC for both UL and DL, andmay handle RRC and NAS related activities. The other serving cells arereferred to as SCells, and each SCell may provide an individual SCC forboth UL and DL. The SCCs may be added and removed as required, whilechanging the PCC may require the UE 101, 102 to undergo a handover. InLAA, eLAA, and feLAA, some or all of the SCells may operate in theunlicensed spectrum (referred to as “LAA SCells”), and the LAA SCellsare assisted by a PCell operating in the licensed spectrum. When a UE isconfigured with more than one LAA SCell, the UE may receive UL grants onthe configured LAA SCells indicating different PUSCH starting positionswithin a same subframe.

The PDSCH carries user data and higher-layer signaling to the UEs 101.The PDCCH carries information about the transport format and resourceallocations related to the PDSCH channel, among other things. It mayalso inform the UEs 101 about the transport format, resource allocation,and HARQ information related to the uplink shared channel. Typically,downlink scheduling (assigning control and shared channel resourceblocks to the UE 101 b within a cell) may be performed at any of the RANnodes 111 based on channel quality information fed back from any of theUEs 101. The downlink resource assignment information may be sent on thePDCCH used for (e.g., assigned to) each of the UEs 101.

The PDCCH uses CCEs to convey the control information. Before beingmapped to resource elements, the PDCCH complex-valued symbols may firstbe organized into quadruplets, which may then be permuted using asub-block interleaver for rate matching. Each PDCCH may be transmittedusing one or more of these CCEs, where each CCE may correspond to ninesets of four physical resource elements known as REGs. Four QuadraturePhase Shift Keying (QPSK) symbols may be mapped to each REG. The PDCCHmay be transmitted using one or more CCEs, depending on the size of theDCI and the channel condition. There can be four or more different PDCCHformats defined in LTE with different numbers of CCEs (e.g., aggregationlevel, L=1, 2, 4, or 8).

Some embodiments may use concepts for resource allocation for controlchannel information that are an extension of the above-describedconcepts. For example, some embodiments may utilize an EPDCCH that usesPDSCH resources for control information transmission. The EPDCCH may betransmitted using one or more ECCEs. Similar to above, each ECCE maycorrespond to nine sets of four physical resource elements known as anEREGs. An ECCE may have other numbers of EREGs in some situations.

The RAN nodes 111 may be configured to communicate with one another viainterface 112. In embodiments where the system 100 is an LTE system(e.g., when CN 120 is an EPC 220A as in FIG. 6A), the interface 112 maybe an X2 interface 112. The X2 interface may be defined between two ormore RAN nodes 111 (e.g., two or more eNBs and the like) that connect toEPC 120, and/or between two eNBs connecting to EPC 120. In someimplementations, the X2 interface may include an X2 user plane interface(X2-U) and an X2 control plane interface (X2-C). The X2-U may provideflow control mechanisms for user data packets transferred over the X2interface, and may be used to communicate information about the deliveryof user data between eNBs. For example, the X2-U may provide specificsequence number information for user data transferred from a MeNB to anSeNB; information about successful in sequence delivery of PDCP PDUs toa UE 101 from an SeNB for user data; information of PDCP PDUs that werenot delivered to a UE 101; information about a current minimum desiredbuffer size at the SeNB for transmitting to the UE user data; and thelike. The X2-C may provide intra-LTE access mobility functionality,including context transfers from source to target eNBs, user planetransport control, etc.; load management functionality; as well asinter-cell interference coordination functionality.

In embodiments where the system 100 is a 5G or NR system (e.g., when CN120 is an 5GC 220B as in FIG. 6B), the interface 112 may be an Xninterface 112. The Xn interface is defined between two or more RAN nodes111 (e.g., two or more gNBs and the like) that connect to 5GC 120,between a RAN node 111 (e.g., a gNB) connecting to 5GC 120 and an eNB,and/or between two eNBs connecting to 5GC 120. In some implementations,the Xn interface may include an Xn user plane (Xn-U) interface and an Xncontrol plane (Xn-C) interface. The Xn-U may provide non-guaranteeddelivery of user plane PDUs and support/provide data forwarding and flowcontrol functionality. The Xn-C may provide management and errorhandling functionality, functionality to manage the Xn-C interface;mobility support for UE 101 in a connected mode (e.g., CM-CONNECTED)including functionality to manage the UE mobility for connected modebetween one or more RAN nodes 111. The mobility support may includecontext transfer from an old (source) serving RAN node 111 to new(target) serving RAN node 111; and control of user plane tunnels betweenold (source) serving RAN node 111 to new (target) serving RAN node 111.A protocol stack of the Xn-U may include a transport network layer builton Internet Protocol (IP) transport layer, and a GTP—U layer on top of aUDP and/or IP layer(s) to carry user plane PDUs. The Xn-C protocol stackmay include an application layer signaling protocol (referred to as XnApplication Protocol (Xn-AP)) and a transport network layer that isbuilt on SCTP. The SCTP may be on top of an IP layer, and may providethe guaranteed delivery of application layer messages. In the transportIP layer, point-to-point transmission is used to deliver the signalingPDUs. In other implementations, the Xn-U protocol stack and/or the Xn-Cprotocol stack may be same or similar to the user plane and/or controlplane protocol stack(s) shown and described herein.

The RAN 110 is shown to be communicatively coupled to a core network inthis embodiment, core network (CN) 120. The CN 120 may comprise aplurality of network elements 122, which are configured to offer variousdata and telecommunications services to customers/subscribers (e.g.,users of UEs 101) who are connected to the CN 120 via the RAN 110. Thecomponents of the CN 120 may be implemented in one physical node orseparate physical nodes including components to read and executeinstructions from a machine-readable or computer-readable medium (e.g.,a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium). In some embodiments,NFV may be utilized to virtualize any or all of the above-describednetwork node functions via executable instructions stored in one or morecomputer-readable storage mediums (described in further detail below). Alogical instantiation of the CN 120 may be referred to as a networkslice, and a logical instantiation of a portion of the CN 120 may bereferred to as a network sub-slice. NFV architectures andinfrastructures may be used to virtualize one or more network functions,alternatively performed by proprietary hardware, onto physical resourcescomprising a combination of industry-standard server hardware, storagehardware, or switches. In other words, NFV systems may be used toexecute virtual or reconfigurable implementations of one or more EPCcomponents/functions.

Generally, the application server 130 may be an element offeringapplications that use IP bearer resources with the core network (e.g.,UMTS PS domain, LTE PS data services, etc.). The application server 130can also be configured to support one or more communication services(e.g., VoIP sessions, PTT sessions, group communication sessions, socialnetworking services, etc.) for the UEs 101 via the EPC 120.

In embodiments, the CN 120 may be a 5GC (referred to as “5GC 120” or thelike), and the RAN 110 may be connected with the CN 120 via an NGinterface 113. In embodiments, the NG interface 113 may be split intotwo parts, an NG user plane (NG-U) interface 114, which carries trafficdata between the RAN nodes 111 and a UPF, and the S1 control plane(NG-C) interface 115, which is a signaling interface between the RANnodes 111 and AMFs. Embodiments where the CN 120 is a 5GC 120 arediscussed in more detail with regard to FIG. 6B.

In embodiments, the CN 120 may be a 5G CN (referred to as “5GC 120” orthe like), while in other embodiments, the CN 120 may be an EPC). WhereCN 120 is an EPC (referred to as “EPC 120” or the like), the RAN 110 maybe connected with the CN 120 via an S1 interface 113. In embodiments,the S1 interface 113 may be split into two parts, an S1 user plane(S1-U) interface 114, which carries traffic data between the RAN nodes111 and the S-GW, and the S1-MME interface 115, which is a signalinginterface between the RAN nodes 111 and MMEs. An example architecturewherein the CN 120 is an EPC 120 is shown by FIG. 6A.

FIG. 6A illustrates an example architecture of a system 200A including afirst CN 220A, in accordance with various embodiments. In this example,system 200A may implement the LTE standard wherein the CN 220A is an EPC220A that corresponds with CN 120 of FIG. 5. Additionally, the UE 201may be the same or similar as the UEs 101 of FIG. 5, and the E-UTRAN210A may be a RAN that is the same or similar to the RAN 110 of FIG. 5,and which may include RAN nodes 111 discussed previously. The CN 220Amay comprise MMEs 221A, an S-GW 222A, a P-GW 223A, a HSS 224A, and aSGSN 225A.

The MMEs 221A may be similar in function to the control plane of legacySGSN, and may implement MM functions to keep track of the currentlocation of a UE 201. The MMEs 221A may perform various MM procedures tomanage mobility aspects in access such as gateway selection and trackingarea list management. MM (also referred to as “EPS MM” or “EMM” inE-UTRAN systems) may refer to all applicable procedures, methods, datastorage, etc. that are used to maintain knowledge about a presentlocation of the UE 201, provide user identity confidentiality, and/orperform other like services to users/subscribers. Each UE 201 and theMME 221A may include an MM or EMM sublayer, and an MM context may beestablished in the UE 201 and the MMF 221A when an attach procedure issuccessfully completed. The MM context may be a data structure ordatabase object that stores MM-related information of the UE 201. TheMMEs 221A may be coupled with the HSS 224A via an S6a reference point,coupled with the SGSN 225A via an S3 reference point, and coupled withthe S-GW 222A via an S11 reference point.

The SGSN 225A may be a node that serves the UE 201 by tracking thelocation of an individual UE 201 and performing security functions. Inaddition, the SGSN 225A may perform Inter-EPC node signaling formobility between 2G/3G and E-UTRAN 3GPP access networks; PDN and S-GWselection as specified by the MMFs 221A; handling of UE 201 time zonefunctions as specified by the MMEs 221A; and MME selection for handoversto E-UTRAN 3GPP access network. The S3 reference point between the MMEs221A and the SGSN 225A may enable user and bearer information exchangefor inter-3GPP access network mobility in idle and/or active states.

The HSS 224A may comprise a database for network users, includingsubscription-related information to support the network entities'handling of communication sessions. The EPC 220A may comprise one orseveral HSSs 224A, depending on the number of mobile subscribers, on thecapacity of the equipment, on the organization of the network, etc. Forexample, the HSS 224A can provide support for routing/roaming,authentication, authorization, naming/addressing resolution, locationdependencies, etc. An S6a reference point between the HSS 224A and theMMEs 221A may enable transfer of subscription and authentication datafor authenticating/authorizing user access to the EPC 220A between HSS224A and the MMEs 221A.

The S-GW 222A may terminate the S1 interface 113 (“S1-U” in FIG. 6A)toward the RAN 210A, and routes data packets between the RAN 210A andthe EPC 220A. In addition, the S-GW 222A may be a local mobility anchorpoint for inter-RAN node handovers and also may provide an anchor forinter-3GPP mobility. Other responsibilities may include lawfulintercept, charging, and some policy enforcement. The S11 referencepoint between the S-GW 222A and the MMEs 221A may provide a controlplane between the MMEs 221A and the S-GW 222A. The S-GW 222A may becoupled with the P-GW 223A via an S5 reference point.

The P-GW 223A may terminate an SGi interface toward a PDN 230. The P-GW223A may route data packets between the EPC 220A and external networkssuch as a network including the application server 130 (alternativelyreferred to as an “AF”) via an IP interface 125 (see e.g., FIG. 5). Inembodiments, the P-GW 223A may be communicatively coupled to anapplication server (application server 130 of FIG. 5 or PDN 230 in FIG.6A) via an IP communications interface 125 (see, e.g., FIG. 5). The S5reference point between the P-GW 223A and the S-GW 222A may provide userplane tunneling and tunnel management between the P-GW 223A and the S-GW222A. The S5 reference point may also be used for S-GW 222A relocationdue to UE 201 mobility and if the S-GW 222A needs to connect to anon-collocated P-GW 223A for the required PDN connectivity. The P-GW223A may further include a node for policy enforcement and charging datacollection (e.g., PCEF (not shown)). Additionally, the SGi referencepoint between the P-GW 223A and the packet data network (PDN) 230 may bean operator external public, a private PDN, or an intra operator packetdata network, for example, for provision of IMS services. The P-GW 223Amay be coupled with a PCRF 226A via a Gx reference point.

PCRF 226A is the policy and charging control element of the EPC 220A. Ina non-roaming scenario, there may be a single PCRF 226A in the HomePublic Land Mobile Network (HPLMN) associated with a UE 201's InternetProtocol Connectivity Access Network (IP-CAN) session. In a roamingscenario with local breakout of traffic, there may be two PCRFsassociated with a UE 201's IP-CAN session, a Home PCRF (H-PCRF) withinan HPLMN and a Visited PCRF (V-PCRF) within a Visited Public Land MobileNetwork (VPLMN). The PCRF 226A may be communicatively coupled to theapplication server 230 via the P-GW 223A. The application server 230 maysignal the PCRF 226A to indicate a new service flow and select theappropriate QoS and charging parameters. The PCRF 226A may provisionthis rule into a PCEF (not shown) with the appropriate TFT and QCI,which commences the QoS and charging as specified by the applicationserver 230. The Gx reference point between the PCRF 226A and the P-GW223A may allow for the transfer of QoS policy and charging rules fromthe PCRF 226A to PCEF in the P-GW 223A. An Rx reference point may residebetween the PDN 230 (or “AF 230”) and the PCRF 226A.

FIG. 6B illustrates an architecture of a system 200B including a secondCN 220B in accordance with various embodiments. The system 200B is shownto include a UE 201, which may be the same or similar to the UEs 101 andUE 201 discussed previously; a (R)AN 210B, which may be the same orsimilar to the RAN 110 and RAN 210A discussed previously, and which mayinclude RAN nodes 111 discussed previously; and a DN 203, which may be,for example, operator services, Internet access or 3rd party services;and a 5GC 220B. The 5GC 220B may include an AUSF 222B; an AMF 221B; aSMF 224B; a NEF 223B; a PCF 226B; a NRF 225B; a UDM 227; an AF 228; aUPF 202; and a NSSF 229.

The UPF 202 may act as an anchor point for intra-RAT and inter-RATmobility, an external PDU session point of interconnect to DN 203, and abranching point to support multi-homed PDU session. The UPF 202 may alsoperform packet routing and forwarding, perform packet inspection,enforce the user plane part of policy rules, lawfully intercept packets(UP collection), perform traffic usage reporting, perform QoS handlingfor a user plane (e.g., packet filtering, gating, UL/DL rateenforcement), perform Uplink Traffic verification (e.g., SDF to QoS flowmapping), transport level packet marking in the uplink and downlink, andperform downlink packet buffering and downlink data notificationtriggering. UPF 202 may include an uplink classifier to support routingtraffic flows to a data network. The DN 203 may represent variousnetwork operator services, Internet access, or third party services. DN203 may include, or be similar to, application server 130 discussedpreviously. The UPF 202 may interact with the SMF 224B via an N4reference point between the SMF 224B and the UPF 202.

The AUSF 222B may store data for authentication of UE 201 and handleauthentication-related functionality. The AUSF 222B may facilitate acommon authentication framework for various access types. The AUSF 222Bmay communicate with the AMF 221B via an N12 reference point between theAMF 221B and the AUSF 222B; and may communicate with the UDM 227 via anN13 reference point between the UDM 227 and the AUSF 222B. Additionally,the AUSF 222B may exhibit an Nausf service-based interface.

The AMF 221B may be responsible for registration management (e.g., forregistering UE 201, etc.), connection management, reachabilitymanagement, mobility management, and lawful interception of AMF-relatedevents, and access authentication and authorization. The AMF 221B may bea termination point for the an N11 reference point between the AMF 221Band the SMF 224B. The AMF 221B may provide transport for SM messagesbetween the UE 201 and the SMF 2249, and act as a transparent proxy forrouting SM messages. AMF 221B may also provide transport for SMSmessages between UE 201 and an SMSF (not shown by FIG. 6B), AMF 221B mayact as SEAF, which may include interaction with the AUSF 222B and the UE201, receipt of an intermediate key that was established as a result ofthe UE 201 authentication process. Where USIM based authentication isused, the AMF 221B may retrieve the security material from the AUSF222B. AMF 221B may also include a SCM function, which receives a keyfrom the SEA that it uses to derive access-network specific keys.Furthermore, AMF 221B may be a termination point of a RAN CP interface,which may include or be an N2 reference point between the (R)AN 210B andthe AMF 221B; and the AMF 221B may be a termination point of NAS (N1)signalling, and perform NAS ciphering and integrity protection.

AMF 221B may also support NAS signalling with a UE 201 over an N3 IWFinterface. The N3IWF may be used to provide access to untrustedentities. N3IWF may be a termination point for the N2 interface betweenthe (R)AN 210B and the AMF 221B for the control plane, and may be atermination point for the N3 reference point between the (R)AN 210B andthe UPF 202 for the user plane. As such, the AMF 221B may handle N2signalling from the SMF 224B and the AMF 221B for PDU sessions and QoS,encapsulate/de-encapsulate packets for IPSec and N3 tunnelling, mark N3user-plane packets in the uplink, and enforce QoS corresponding to N3packet marking taking into account QoS requirements associated with suchmarking received over N2. N3IWF may also relay uplink and downlinkcontrol-plane NAS signalling between the UE 201 and AMF 221B via an N1reference point between the UE 201 and the AMF 221B, and relay uplinkand downlink user-plane packets between the UE 201 and UPF 202. TheN3IWF also provides mechanisms for IPsec tunnel establishment with theUE 201. The AMF 221B may exhibit an Namf service-based interface, andmay be a termination point for an N14 reference point between two AMFs221B and an N17 reference point between the AMF 221B and a 5G-EIR (notshown by FIG. 6B).

The UE 201 may need to register with the AMF 221B in order to receivenetwork services. RM is used to register or deregister the UE 201 withthe network (e.g., AMF 221B), and establish a HE context in the network(e.g., AMF 221B). The UE 201 may operate in an RM-REGISTERED state or anRM-DEREGISTERED state. In the RM-DEREGISTERED state, the UE 201 is notregistered with the network, and the UE context in AMF 221B holds novalid location or routing information for the UE 201 so the UE 201 isnot reachable by the AMF 221B. In the RM-REGISTERED state, the UE 201 isregistered with the network, and the UE context in AMF 221B may hold avalid location or routing information for the UE 201 so the UE 201 isreachable by the AMF 221B. In the RM-REGISTERED state, the UE 201 mayperform mobility Registration Update procedures, perform periodicRegistration Update procedures triggered by expiration of the periodicupdate timer (e.g., to notify the network that the UE 201 is stillactive), and perform a Registration Update procedure to update UEcapability information or to re-negotiate protocol parameters with thenetwork, among others.

The AMF 221B may store one or more RM contexts for the UE 201, whereeach RM context is associated with a specific access to the network. TheRM context may be a data structure, database object, etc. that indicatesor stores, inter alia, a registration state per access type and theperiodic update timer. The AMF 221B may also store a 5GC MM context thatmay be the same or similar to the (E)MM context discussed previously. Invarious embodiments, the AMF 221B may store a CE mode B Restrictionparameter of the UE 201 in an associated MM context or RM context. TheAMF 221B may also derive the value, when needed, from the UE's usagesetting parameter already stored in the UE context (and/or MM/RMcontext).

CM may be used to establish and release a signaling connection betweenthe UE 201 and the AMF 221B over the N1 interface. The signalingconnection is used to enable NAS signaling exchange between the UE 201and the CN 220B, and comprises both the signaling connection between theUE and the AN (e.g., RRC connection or UE-N3IWF connection for non-3GPPaccess) and the N2 connection for the UE 201 between the AN (e.g., RAN210B) and the AMF 221B. The UE 201 may operate in one of two CM states,CM-IDLE mode or CM-CONNECTED mode. When the UE 201 is operating in theCM-IDLE state/mode, the UE 201 may have no NAS signaling connectionestablished with the AMF 221B over the N1 interface, and there may be(R)AN 210B signaling connection (e.g., N2 and/or N3 connections) for theUE 201. When the UE 201 is operating in the CM-CONNECTED state/mode, theUE 201 may have an established NAS signaling connection with the AMF221B over the N1 interface, and there may be a (R)AN 210B signalingconnection (e.g., N2 and/or N3 connections) for the UE 201.Establishment of an N2 connection between the (R)AN 210B and the AMF221B may cause the UE 201 to transition from CM-IDLE mode toCM-CONNECTED mode, and the UE 201 may transition from the CM-CONNECTEDmode to the CM-IDLE mode when N2 signaling between the (R)AN 210B andthe AMF 221B is released.

The SMF 224B may be responsible for SM (e.g., session establishment,modify and release, including tunnel maintain between UPF and AN node);UE IP address allocation and management (including optionalauthorization); selection and control of UP function; configuringtraffic steeling at UPF to route traffic to proper destination;termination of interfaces toward policy control functions; controllingpart of policy enforcement and QoS; lawful intercept (for SM events andinterface to LI system); termination of SM parts of NAS messages;downlink data notification; initiating AN specific SM information, sentvia AMF over N2 to AN; and determining SSC mode of a session. SM mayrefer to management of a PDU session, and a PDU session or “session” mayrefer to a PDU connectivity service that provides or enables theexchange of PDUs between a UE 201 and a data network (DN) 203 identifiedby a Data Network Name (DNN). PDU sessions may be established upon UE201 request, modified upon UE 201 and 5GC 220B request, and releasedupon UE 201 and 5GC 220B request using NAS SM signaling exchanged overthe N1 reference point between the UE 201 and the SMF 224B. Upon requestfrom an application server, the 5GC 220B may trigger a specificapplication in the UE 201. In response to receipt of the triggermessage, the UE 201 may pass the trigger message (or relevantparts/information of the trigger message) to one or more identifiedapplications in the UE 201. The identified application(s) in the UE 201may establish a PDU session to a specific DNN. The SMF 224B may checkwhether the UE 201 requests are compliant with user subscriptioninformation associated with the UE 201. In this regard, the SMF 224B mayretrieve and/or request to receive update notifications on SMF 224Blevel subscription data from the UDM 227.

The SMF 224B may include the following roaming functionality: handlinglocal enforcement to apply QoS SLAs (VPLMN); charging data collectionand charging interface (VPLMN); lawful intercept (in VPLMN for SM eventsand interface to LI system); and support for interaction with externalDN for transport of signalling for PDU sessionauthorization/authentication by external DN. An N16 reference pointbetween two SMFs 224B may be included in the system 200B, which may bebetween another SMF 224B in a visited network and the SMF 224B in thehome network in roaming scenarios. Additionally, the SMF 224B mayexhibit the Nsmf service-based interface.

The NEF 223B may provide means for securely exposing the services andcapabilities provided by 3GPP network functions for third party,internal exposure/re-exposure, Application Functions (e.g., AF 228),edge computing or fog computing systems, etc. In such embodiments, theNEF 223B may authenticate, authorize, and/or throttle the AFs. NEF 223Bmay also translate information exchanged with the AF 228 and informationexchanged with internal network functions. For example, the NEF 223B maytranslate between an AF-Service-Identifier and an internal 5GCinformation. NEF 223B may also receive information from other networkfunctions (NFs) based on exposed capabilities of other networkfunctions. This information may be stored at the NEF 223B as structureddata, or at a data storage NF using standardized interfaces. The storedinformation can then be re-exposed by the NEF 223B to other NFs and AFs,and/or used for other purposes such as analytics. Additionally, the NEF223B may exhibit an Nnef service-based interface.

The NRF 225B may support service discovery functions, receive NFdiscovery requests from NF instances, and provide the information of thediscovered NF instances to the NE instances. NRF 225B also maintainsinformation of available NE instances and their supported services. Asused herein, the terms “instantiate,” “instantiation,” and the like mayrefer to the creation of an instance, and an “instance” may refer to aconcrete occurrence of an object, which may occur, for example, duringexecution of program code. Additionally, the NRF 225B may exhibit theNnrf service-based interface.

The PCF 226B may provide policy rules to control plane function(s) toenforce them, and may also support unified policy framework to governnetwork behaviour. The PCF 226B may also implement an FE to accesssubscription information relevant for policy decisions in a UDR of theUDM 227. The PCF 2269 may communicate with the AMF 221B via an N15reference point between the PCF 226B and the AMF 221B, which may includea PCF 226B in a visited network and the AMF 221B in case of roamingscenarios. The PCF 226B may communicate with the AF 228 via an N5reference point between the PCF 226B and the AF 228; and with the SME224B via an N7 reference point between the PCF 226B and the SW 224B. Thesystem 200B and/or CN 2209 may also include an N24 reference pointbetween the PCF 226B (in the home network) and a PCF 2269 in a visitednetwork. Additionally, the PCF 226B may exhibit an Npcf service-basedinterface.

The UDM 227 may handle subscription-related information to support thenetwork entities' handling of communication sessions, and may storesubscription data of UE 201. For example, subscription data may becommunicated between the UDM 227 and the AMF 221B via an N8 referencepoint between the UDM 227 and the AMF. The UDM 227 may include twoparts, an application FE and a UDR (the FE and UDR are not shown by FIG.69). The UDR may store subscription data and policy data for the UDM 227and the PCF 226B, and/or structured data for exposure and applicationdata (including PFDs for application detection, application requestinformation for multiple UEs 201) for the NEF 223B. The Nudrservice-based interface may be exhibited by the UDR 221 to allow the UDM227, PCF 2269, and NEF 223B to access a particular set of the storeddata, as well as to read, update (e.g., add, modify), delete, andsubscribe to notification of relevant data changes in the UDR. The UDMmay include a UDM-FE, which is in charge of processing credentials,location management, subscription management and so on. Severaldifferent front ends may serve the same user in different transactions.The UDM-FE accesses subscription information stored in the UDR andperforms authentication credential processing, user identificationhandling, access authorization, registration/mobility management, andsubscription management. The UDR may interact with the SMF 224B via anN10 reference point between the UDM 227 and the SMF 224B. UDM 227 mayalso support SMS management, wherein an SMS-FE implements the similarapplication logic as discussed previously. Additionally, the UDM 227 mayexhibit the Nudm service-based interface.

The AF 228 may provide application influence on traffic routing, provideaccess to the NCE, and interact with the policy framework for policycontrol. The NCE may be a mechanism that allows the 5GC 220B and AF 228to provide information to each other via NEF 223B, which may be used foredge computing implementations. In such implementations, the networkoperator and third party services may be hosted close to the UE 201access point of attachment to achieve an efficient service deliverythrough the reduced end-to-end latency and load on the transportnetwork. For edge computing implementations, the 5GC may select a UPF202 close to the UE 201 and execute traffic steering from the UPF 202 toDN 203 via the N6 interface. This may be based on the UE subscriptiondata, UE location, and information provided by the AF 228. In this way,the AF 228 may influence UPF (re)selection and traffic routing. Based onoperator deployment, when AF 228 is considered to be a trusted entity,the network operator may permit AF 228 to interact directly withrelevant NFs. Additionally, the AF 228 may exhibit an Naf service-basedinterface.

The NSSF 229 may select a set of network slice instances serving the UE201. The NSSF 229 may also determine allowed NSSAI and the mapping tothe subscribed 5-NSSAIs, if needed. The NSSF 229 may also determine theAMF set to be used to serve the UE 201, or a list of candidate AMF(s)221B based on a suitable configuration and possibly by querying the NRF225B. The selection of a set of network slice instances for the UE 201may be triggered by the AMF 221B with which the UE 201 is registered byinteracting with the NSSF 229, which may lead to a change of AMF 221B.The NSSF 229 may interact with the AMF 221B via an N22 reference pointbetween AMF 221B and NSSF 229; and may communicate with another NSSF 229in a visited network via an N31 reference point (not shown by FigureGB). Additionally, the NSSF 229 may exhibit an Nnssf service-basedinterface.

As discussed previously, the CN 220B may include an SMSF, which may beresponsible for SMS subscription checking and verification, and relayingSM messages to/from the UE 201 to/from other entities, such as anSMS-GMSC/IWMSC/SMS-router. The SMS may also interact with AMF 221B andUDM 227 for a notification procedure that the UE 201 is available forSMS transfer (e.g., set a UE not reachable flag, and notifying UDM 227when UE 201 is available for SMS).

The CN 120 may also include other elements that are not shown by FigureGB, such as a Data Storage system/architecture, a 5G-EIR, a SEPP, andthe like. The Data Storage system may include a SDSF, an UDSF, and/orthe like. Any NF may store and retrieve unstructured data into/from theUDSF (e.g., UE contexts), via N18 reference point between any NF and theUDSF (not shown by Figure GB). Individual NFs may share a UDSF forstoring their respective unstructured data or individual NFs may eachhave their own UDSF located at or near the individual NFs. Additionally,the UDSF may exhibit an Nudsf service-based interface (not shown byFigure GB). The 5G-EIR may be an NE that checks the status of PEI fordetermining whether particular equipment/entities are blacklisted fromthe network; and the SEPP may be a non-transparent proxy that performstopology hiding, message filtering, and policing on inter-PLMN controlplane interfaces.

Additionally, there may be many more reference points and/orservice-based interfaces between the NF services in the NFs; however,these interfaces and reference points have been omitted from Figure GBfor clarity. In one example, the CN 220B may include an Nx interface;which is an inter-CN interface between the MMF (e.g., MIME 221A) and theAMF 221B in order to enable interworking between CN 220B and CN 220A.Other example interfaces/reference points may include an N5g-EIRservice-based interface exhibited by a 5G-EIR, an N27 reference pointbetween the NRF in the visited network and the NRF in the home network;and an N31 reference point between the NSSF in the visited network andthe NSSF in the home network.

FIG. 7A illustrates an example of infrastructure equipment 300A inaccordance with various embodiments. The infrastructure equipment 300A(or “system 300A”) may be implemented as a base station, radio head, RANnode such as the RAN nodes 111 and/or AP 106 shown and describedpreviously, application server(s) 130, and/or any other element/devicediscussed herein. In other examples, the system 300A could beimplemented in or by a UE.

The system 300A includes application circuitry 305, baseband circuitry310, one or more radio front end modules (RFEMs) 315, memory circuitry320, power management integrated circuitry (PMIC) 325, power teecircuitry 330A, network controller circuitry 335, network interfaceconnector 340A, satellite positioning circuitry 345, and user interface350. In some embodiments, the device 300A may include additionalelements such as, for example, memory/storage, display, camera, sensor,or input/output (I/O) interface. In other embodiments, the componentsdescribed below may be included in more than one device. For example,said circuitries may be separately included in more than one device forCRAN, vBBU, or other like implementations.

Application circuitry 305 includes circuitry such as, but not limited toone or more processors (or processor cores), cache memory, and one ormore of low drop-out voltage regulators (LDOs), interrupt controllers,serial interfaces such as SPI, FC or universal programmable serialinterface module, real time clock (RTC), timer-counters includinginterval and watchdog timers, general purpose input/output (I/O or TO),memory card controllers such as Secure Digital (SD) MultiMediaCard (MMC)or similar, Universal Serial Bus (USB) interfaces, Mobile IndustryProcessor Interface (MIPI) interfaces and Joint Test Access Group (JTAG)test access ports. The processors (or cores) of the applicationcircuitry 305 may be coupled with or may include memory/storage elementsand may be configured to execute instructions stored in thememory/storage to enable various applications or operating systems torun on the system 300A. In some implementations, the memory/storageelements may be on-chip memory circuitry, which may include any suitablevolatile and/or non-volatile memory, such as DRAM, SRAM, EPROM, EEPROM,Flash memory, solid-state memory, and/or any other type of memory devicetechnology, such as those discussed herein.

The processor(s) of application circuitry 305 may include, for example,one or more processor cores (CPUs), one or more application processors,one or more graphics processing units (GPUs), one or more reducedinstruction set computing (RISC) processors, one or more Acorn RISCMachine (ARM) processors, one or more complex instruction set computing(CISC) processors, one or more digital signal processors (DSP), one ormore FPGAs, one or more PLDs, one or more ASICs, one or moremicroprocessors or controllers, or any suitable combination thereof. Insome embodiments, the application circuitry 305 may comprise, or may be,a special-purpose processor/controller to operate according to thevarious embodiments herein. As examples, the processor(s) of applicationcircuitry 305 may include one or more Intel Pentium®, Core®, or Xeon®processor(s); Advanced. Micro Devices (AMD) Ryzen® processor(s),Accelerated Processing Units (APUs), or Epyc® processors; ARM-basedprocessor(s) licensed from ARM Holdings, Ltd. such as the ARM Cortex-Afamily of processors and the ThunderX2® provided by Cavium™, Inc.; aMIPS-based design from MIPS Technologies, Inc. such as MIPS WarriorP-class processors; and/or the like. In some embodiments, the system300A may not utilize application circuitry 305, and instead may includea special-purpose processor/controller to process IP data received froman EPC or 5GC, for example.

In some implementations, the application circuitry 305 may include oneor more hardware accelerators, which may be microprocessors,programmable processing devices, or the like. The one or more hardwareaccelerators may include, for example, computer vision (CV) and/or deeplearning (DL) accelerators. As examples, the programmable processingdevices may be one or more a field-programmable devices (PPDs) such asfield-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) and the like; programmable logicdevices (PLDs) such as complex PLDs (CPLDs), high-capacity PLDs(HCPLDs), and the like; ASICs such as structured ASICs and the like;programmable SoCs (PSoCs); and the like. In such implementations, thecircuitry of application circuitry 305 may comprise logic blocks orlogic fabric, and other interconnected resources that may be programmedto perform various functions, such as the procedures, methods,functions, etc. of the various embodiments discussed herein. In suchembodiments, the circuitry of application circuitry 305 may includememory cells (e.g., erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM),electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flashmemory, static memory (e.g., static random access memory (SRAM),anti-fuses, etc.)) used to store logic blocks, logic fabric, data, etc.in look-up-tables (LUTs) and the like.

The baseband circuitry 310 may be implemented, for example, as asolder-down substrate including one or more integrated circuits, asingle packaged integrated circuit soldered to a main circuit board or amulti-chip module containing two or more integrated circuits. Thevarious hardware electronic elements of baseband circuitry 310 arediscussed infra with regard to FIG. 8.

User interface circuitry 350 may include one or more user interfacesdesigned to enable user interaction with the system 300A or peripheralcomponent interfaces designed to enable peripheral component interactionwith the system 300A. User interfaces may include, but are not limitedto, one or more physical or virtual buttons (e.g., a reset button), oneor more indicators (e.g., light emitting diodes (LEDs)), a physicalkeyboard or keypad, a mouse, a touchpad, a touchscreen, speakers orother audio emitting devices, microphones, a printer, a scanner, aheadset, a display screen or display device, etc. Peripheral componentinterfaces may include, but are not limited to, a nonvolatile memoryport, a universal serial bus (USB) port, an audio jack, a power supplyinterface, etc.

The radio front end modules (RFEMs) 315 may comprise a millimeter wave(mmWave) RFEM and one or more sub-mmWave radio frequency integratedcircuits (RFICs). In some implementations, the one or more sub-mmWaveRFICs may be physically separated from the mmWave RFEM. The RFICs mayinclude connections to one or more antennas or antenna arrays (see e.g.,antenna array 411 of FIG. 8 infra), and the RFEM may be connected tomultiple antennas. In alternative implementations, both mmWave andsub-mmWave radio functions may be implemented in the same physical RFEM315, which incorporates both mmWave antennas and sub-mmWave.

The memory circuitry 320 may include one or more of volatile memoryincluding dynamic random access memory (DRAM) and/or synchronous dynamicrandom access memory (SDRAM), and nonvolatile memory (NVM) includinghigh-speed electrically erasable memory (commonly referred to as Flashmemory), phase change random access memory (PRAM), magnetoresistiverandom access memory (MRAM), etc., and may incorporate thethree-dimensional (3D) cross-point (XPOINT) memories from Intel® andMicron®. Memory circuitry 320 may be implemented as one or more ofsolder down packaged integrated circuits, socketed memory modules andplug-in memory cards.

The PMIC 325 may include voltage regulators, surge protectors, poweralarm detection circuitry, and one or more backup power sources such asa battery or capacitor. The power alarm detection circuitry may detectone or more of brown out (under-voltage) and surge (over-voltage)conditions. The power tee circuitry 330A may provide for electricalpower drawn from a network cable to provide both power supply and dataconnectivity to the infrastructure equipment 300A using a single cable.

The network controller circuitry 335 may provide connectivity to anetwork using a standard network interface protocol such as Ethernet,Ethernet over GRE Tunnels, Ethernet over Multiprotocol Label Switching(MPLS), or some other suitable protocol. Network connectivity may beprovided to/from the infrastructure equipment 300A via network interfaceconnector 340A using a physical connection, which may be electrical(commonly referred to as a “copper interconnect”), optical, or wireless.The network controller circuitry 335 may include one or more dedicatedprocessors and/or FPGAs to communicate using one or more of theaforementioned protocols. In some implementations, the networkcontroller circuitry 335 may include multiple controllers to provideconnectivity to other networks using the same or different protocols.

The positioning circuitry 345 includes circuitry to receive and decodesignals transmitted/broadcasted by a positioning network of a globalnavigation satellite system (GNSS). Examples of navigation satelliteconstellations (or GNSS) include United States' Global PositioningSystem (GPS), Russia's Global Navigation System (GLONASS), the EuropeanUnion's Galileo system, China's BeiDou Navigation Satellite System, aregional navigation system or GNSS augmentation system (e.g., Navigationwith Indian Constellation (NAVIC), Japan's Quasi-Zenith Satellite System(QZSS), France's Doppler Orbitography and Radio-positioning integratedby Satellite (DORIS), etc.), or the like. The positioning circuitry 345comprises various hardware elements (e.g., including hardware devicessuch as switches, filters, amplifiers, antenna elements, and the like tofacilitate OTA communications) to communicate with components of apositioning network, such as navigation satellite constellation nodes.In some embodiments, the positioning circuitry 345 may include aMicro-Technology for Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (Micro-PNT) ICthat uses a master timing clock to perform position tracking/estimationwithout GNSS assistance. The positioning circuitry 345 may also be partof, or interact with, the baseband circuitry 310 and/or RFEMs 315 tocommunicate with the nodes and components of the positioning network.The positioning circuitry 345 may also provide position data and/or timedata to the application circuitry 305, which may use the data tosynchronize operations with various infrastructure (e.g., RAN nodes 111,etc.), or the like.

The components shown by FIG. 7A may communicate with one another usinginterface circuitry, which may include any number of bus and/orinterconnect (IX) technologies such as industry standard architecture(ISA), extended ISA (EISA), peripheral component interconnect (PCI),peripheral component interconnect extended (PCIx), PCI express (PCIe),or any number of other technologies. The bus/IX may be a proprietarybus, for example, used in a SoC based system. Other bus/IX systems maybe included, such as an interface, an SPI interface, point to pointinterfaces, and a power bus, among others.

FIG. 7B illustrates an example of a platform 300B (or “device 300B”) inaccordance with various embodiments. In embodiments, the computerplatform 300B may be suitable for use as UEs 101, 102, 201, applicationservers 130, and/or any other element/device discussed herein. Theplatform 300B may include any combinations of the components shown inthe example. The components of platform 300B may be implemented asintegrated circuits (ICs), portions thereof, discrete electronicdevices, or other modules, logic, hardware, software, firmware, or acombination thereof adapted in the computer platform 3009, or ascomponents otherwise incorporated within a chassis of a larger system.The block diagram of FIG. 7B is intended to show a high level view ofcomponents of the computer platform 3009. However, some of thecomponents shown may be omitted, additional components may be present,and different arrangement of the components shown may occur in otherimplementations.

Application circuitry 305 includes circuitry such as, but not limited toone or more processors (or processor cores), cache memory, and one ormore of LDOs, interrupt controllers, serial interfaces such as SPI, I²Cor universal programmable serial interface module, RTC, timer-countersincluding interval and watchdog timers, general purpose memory cardcontrollers such as SD MMC or similar, USB interfaces, MIPI interfaces,and JTAG test access ports. The processors (or cores) of the applicationcircuitry 305 may be coupled with or may include memory/storage elementsand may be configured to execute instructions stored in thememory/storage to enable various applications or operating systems torun on the system 300B. In some implementations, the memory/storageelements may be on-chip memory circuitry, which may include any suitablevolatile and/or non-volatile memory, such as DRAM, SRAM, EPROM, EEPROM,Flash memory, solid-state memory, and/or any other type of memory devicetechnology, such as those discussed herein.

The processor(s) of application circuitry 305 may include, for example,one or more processor cores, one or more application processors, one ormore GPUs, one or more RISC processors, one or more ARM processors, oneor more CISC processors, one or more DSP, one or more FPGAs, one or morePLDs, one or more ASICs, one or more microprocessors or controllers, amultithreaded processor, an ultra-low voltage processor, an embeddedprocessor, some other known processing element, or any suitablecombination thereof. In some embodiments, the application circuitry 305may comprise, or may be, a special-purpose processor/controller tooperate according to the various embodiments herein.

As examples, the processor(s) of application circuitry 305 may includean Intel® Architecture Core™ based processor, such as a Quark™, anAtom™, an i3, an i5, an i7, or an MCU-class processor, or another suchprocessor available from Intel® Corporation, Santa Clara, Calif. Theprocessors of the application circuitry 305 may also be one or more ofAdvanced Micro Devices (AMD) Ryzen® processor(s) or AcceleratedProcessing Units (APUs); A5-A9 processor(s) from Apple® Inc.,Snapdragon™ processor(s) from Qualcomm® Technologies, Inc., TexasInstruments, Inc.® Open Multimedia. Applications Platform (OMAP)™processor(s); a MIPS-based design from MIPS Technologies, Inc. such asMIPS Warrior M-class, Warrior I-class, and Warrior P-class processors;an ARM-based design licensed from ARM Holdings, Ltd., such as the ARMCortex-A, Cortex-R, and Cortex-M family of processors; or the like. Insome implementations, the application circuitry 305 may be a part of asystem on a chip (SoC) in which the application circuitry 305 and othercomponents are formed into a single integrated circuit, or a singlepackage, such as the Edison™ or Galileo™ SoC boards from Intel®Corporation.

Additionally or alternatively, application circuitry 305 may includecircuitry such as, but not limited to, one or more a field-programmabledevices (FPDs) such as FPGAs and the like; programmable logic devices(PLDs) such as complex PLDs (CPLDs), high-capacity PLDs (HCPLDs), andthe like; ASICs such as structured ASICs and the like; programmable SoCs(PSoCs); and the like. In such embodiments, the circuitry of applicationcircuitry 305 may comprise logic blocks or logic fabric, and otherinterconnected resources that may be programmed to perform variousfunctions, such as the procedures, methods, functions, etc. of thevarious embodiments discussed herein. In such embodiments, the circuitryof application circuitry 305 may include memory cells (e.g., erasableprogrammable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasableprogrammable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory, static memory(e.g., static random access memory (SRAM), anti-fuses, etc.)) used tostore logic blocks, logic fabric, data, etc. in look-up tables (LUTs)and the like.

The baseband circuitry 310 may be implemented, for example, as asolder-down substrate including one or more integrated circuits, asingle packaged integrated circuit soldered to a main circuit board or amulti-chip module containing two or more integrated circuits. Thevarious hardware electronic elements of baseband circuitry 310 arediscussed infra with regard to FIG. 8.

The RFEMs 315 may comprise a millimeter wave (mmWave) RFEM and one ormore sub-mmWave radio frequency integrated circuits (RFICs). In someimplementations, the one or more sub-mmWave RFICs may be physicallyseparated from the mmWave RFEM. The RFICs may include connections to oneor more antennas or antenna arrays (see e.g., antenna array 411 of FIG.8 infra), and the RFEM may be connected to multiple antennas. Inalternative implementations, both mmWave and sub-mmWave radio functionsmay be implemented in the same physical RFEM 315, which incorporatesboth mmWave antennas and sub-mmWave.

The memory circuitry 320 may include any number and type of memorydevices used to provide for a given amount of system memory. Asexamples, the memory circuitry 320 may include one or more of volatilememory including random access memory (RAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM) and/orsynchronous dynamic RAM (SDRAM), and nonvolatile memory (NVM) includinghigh-speed electrically erasable memory (commonly referred to as Flashmemory), phase change random access memory (PRAM), magnetoresistiverandom access memory (MRAM), etc. The memory circuitry 320 may bedeveloped in accordance with a Joint Electron Devices EngineeringCouncil (JEDEC) low power double data rate (LPDDR)-based design, such asLPDDR2, LPDDR3, LPDDR4, or the like. Memory circuitry 320 may beimplemented as one or more of solder down packaged integrated circuits,single die package (SDP), dual die package (PDP) or quad die package(Q17P), socketed memory modules, dual inline memory modules (DIMMs)including microDIMMs or MiniDIMMs, and/or soldered onto a motherboardvia a ball grid array (BGA). In low power implementations, the memorycircuitry 320 may be on-die memory or registers associated with theapplication circuitry 305. To provide for persistent storage ofinformation such as data, applications, operating systems and so forth,memory circuitry 320 may include one or more mass storage devices, whichmay include, inter alia, a solid state disk drive (SSDD), hard diskdrive (HDD), a micro HDD, resistance change memories, phase changememories, holographic memories, or chemical memories, among others. Forexample, the computer platform 300B may incorporate thethree-dimensional (3D) cross-point (XPOINT) memories from Intel® andMicron®.

Removable memory circuitry 323 may include devices, circuitry,enclosures/housings, ports or receptacles, etc. used to couple portabledata storage devices with the platform 300B. These portable data storagedevices may be used for mass storage purposes, and may include, forexample, flash memory cards (e.g., Secure Digital (SD) cards, microSDcards, xD picture cards, and the like), and USB flash drives, opticaldiscs, external HDDs, and the like.

The platform 300B may also include interface circuitry (not shown) thatis used to connect external devices with the platform 300B. The externaldevices connected to the platform 300B via the interface circuitryinclude sensor circuitry 321 and electro-mechanical components (EMCs)322, as well as removable memory devices coupled to removable memorycircuitry 323.

The sensor circuitry 321 include devices, modules, or subsystems whosepurpose is to detect events or changes in its environment and send theinformation (sensor data) about the detected events to some other adevice, module, subsystem, etc. Examples of such sensors include, interalia, inertia measurement units (Ill Us) comprising accelerometers,gyroscopes, and/or magnetometers; microelectromechanical systems (MEMS)or nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS) comprising 3-axisaccelerometers, 3-axis gyroscopes, and/or magnetometers; level sensors;flow sensors; temperature sensors (e.g., thermistors); pressure sensors;barometric pressure sensors; gravimeters; altimeters; image capturedevices (e.g., cameras or lensless apertures); light detection andranging (LiDAR) sensors; proximity sensors (e.g., infrared radiationdetector and the like), depth sensors, ambient light sensors, ultrasonictransceivers; microphones or other like audio capture devices; etc.

EMCs 322 include devices, modules, or subsystems whose purpose is toenable platform 300B to change its state, position, and/or orientation,or move or control a mechanism or (sub)system. Additionally, EMCs 322may be configured to generate and send messages/signalling to othercomponents of the platform 300B to indicate a current state of the EMCs322. Examples of the EMCs 322 include one or more power switches, relaysincluding electromechanical relays (EMRs) and/or solid state relays(SSRs), actuators (e.g., valve actuators, etc.), an audible soundgenerator, a visual warning device, motors (e.g., DC motors, steppermotors, etc.), wheels, thrusters, propellers, claws, clamps, hooks,and/or other like electro-mechanical components. In embodiments,platform 300B is configured to operate one or more EMCs 322 based on oneor more captured events and/or instructions or control signals receivedfrom a service provider and/or various clients.

In some implementations, the interface circuitry may connect theplatform 300B with positioning circuitry 345. The positioning circuitry345 includes circuitry to receive and decode signalstransmitted/broadcasted by a positioning network of a GNSS. Examples ofnavigation satellite constellations (or GNSS) include United States'GPS, Russia's GLONASS, the European Union's Galileo system, China'sBeiDou Navigation Satellite System, a regional navigation system or GNSSaugmentation system (e.g., NAVIC), Japan's QZSS, France's DORIS, etc.),or the like. The positioning circuitry 345 comprises various hardwareelements (e.g., including hardware devices such as switches, filters,amplifiers, antenna elements, and the like to facilitate OTAcommunications) to communicate with components of a positioning network,such as navigation satellite constellation nodes. In some embodiments,the positioning circuitry 345 may include a Micro-PNT IC that uses amaster timing clock to perform position tracking/estimation without GNSSassistance. The positioning circuitry 345 may also be part of, orinteract with, the baseband circuitry 310 and/or RFEMs 315 tocommunicate with the nodes and components of the positioning network.The positioning circuitry 345 may also provide position data and/or timedata to the application circuitry 305, which may use the data tosynchronize operations with various infrastructure (e.g., radio basestations), for turn-by-turn navigation applications, or the like

In some implementations, the interface circuitry may connect theplatform 300B with Near-Field Communication (NFC) circuitry 340B. NFCcircuitry 340B is configured to provide contactless, short-rangecommunications based on radio frequency identification (RFID) standards,wherein magnetic field induction is used to enable communication betweenNFC circuitry 340B and NFC-enabled devices external to the platform 300B(e.g., an “NFC touchpoint”). NFC circuitry 340B comprises an NFCcontroller coupled with an antenna element and a processor coupled withthe NFC controller. The NFC controller may be a chip/IC providing NFCfunctionalities to the NFC circuitry 340B by executing NFC controllerfirmware and an NFC stack. The NFC stack may be executed by theprocessor to control the NFC controller, and the NEC controller firmwaremay be executed by the NFC controller to control the antenna element toemit short-range RF signals. The RF signals may power a passive NFC tag(e.g., a microchip embedded in a sticker or wristband) to transmitstored data to the NFC circuitry 340B, or initiate data transfer betweenthe NFC circuitry 340B and another active NFC device (e.g., a smartphoneor an NFC-enabled POS terminal) that is proximate to the platform 300B.

The driver circuitry 346 may include software and hardware elements thatoperate to control particular devices that are embedded in the platform300B, attached to the platform 300B, or otherwise communicativelycoupled with the platform 300B. The driver circuitry 346 may includeindividual drivers allowing other components of the platform 300B tointeract with or control various input/output (I/O) devices that may bepresent within, or connected to, the platform 300B. For example, drivercircuitry 346 may include a display driver to control and allow accessto a display device, a touchscreen driver to control and allow access toa touchscreen interface of the platform 300B, sensor drivers to obtainsensor readings of sensor circuitry 321 and control and allow access tosensor circuitry 321, EMC drivers to obtain actuator positions of theEMCs 322 and/or control and allow access to the EMCs 322, a cameradriver to control and allow access to an embedded image capture device,audio drivers to control and allow access to one or more audio devices.

The power management integrated circuitry (PMIC) 325 (also referred toas “power management circuitry 325”) may manage power provided tovarious components of the platform 300B. In particular, with respect tothe baseband circuitry 310, the PMIC 325 may control power-sourceselection, voltage scaling, battery charging, or DC-to-DC conversion.The PMIC 325 may often be included when the platform 3009 is capable ofbeing powered by a battery 330B, for example, when the device isincluded in a UE 101, 102, 201.

In some embodiments, the PMIC 325 may control, or otherwise be part of,various power saving mechanisms of the platform 300B. For example, ifthe platform 300B is in an RRC_Connected state, where it is stillconnected to the RAN node as it expects to receive traffic shortly, thenit may enter a state known as Discontinuous Reception Mode (DRX) after aperiod of inactivity. During this state, the platform 300B may powerdown for brief intervals of time and thus save power. If there is nodata traffic activity for an extended period of time, then the platform3009 may transition off to an RRC idle state, where it disconnects fromthe network and does not perform operations such as channel qualityfeedback, handover, etc. The platform 300B goes into a very low powerstate and it performs paging where again it periodically wakes up tolisten to the network and then powers down again. The platform 3009 maynot receive data in this state; in order to receive data, it musttransition back to RRC_Connected state. An additional power saving modemay allow a device to be unavailable to the network for periods longerthan a paging interval (ranging from seconds to a few hours). Duringthis time, the device is totally unreachable to the network and maypower down completely. Any data sent during this time incurs a largedelay and it is assumed the delay is acceptable.

A battery 330B may power the platform 300B, although in some examplesthe platform 300B may be mounted deployed in a fixed location, and mayhave a power supply coupled to an electrical grid. The battery 330B maybe a lithium ion battery, a metal-air battery, such as a zinc-airbattery, an aluminum-air battery, a lithium-air battery, and the like.In some implementations, such as in V2X applications, the battery 330Bmay be a typical lead-acid automotive battery.

In some implementations, the battery 330B may be a “smart battery,”which includes or is coupled with a Battery Management System (BMS) orbattery monitoring integrated circuitry. The BMS may be included in theplatform 300B to track the state of charge (SoCh) of the battery 330B.The BMS may be used to monitor other parameters of the battery 330B toprovide failure predictions, such as the state of health (SoH) and thestate of function (SoF) of the battery 330B. The BMS may communicate theinformation of the battery 330B to the application circuitry 305 orother components of the platform 300B. The BMS may also include ananalog-to-digital (ADC) convertor that allows the application circuitry305 to directly monitor the voltage of the battery 330B or the currentflow from the battery 330B. The battery parameters may be used todetermine actions that the platform 300B may perform, such astransmission frequency, network operation, sensing frequency, and thelike.

A power block, or other power supply coupled to an electrical grid maybe coupled with the BMS to charge the battery 330B. In some examples,the power block may be replaced with a wireless power receiver to obtainthe power wirelessly, for example, through a loop antenna in thecomputer platform 300B. In these examples, a wireless battery chargingcircuit may be included in the BMS. The specific charging circuitschosen may depend on the size of the battery 330B, and thus, the currentrequired. The charging may be performed using the Airfuel standardpromulgated by the Airfuel Alliance, the Qi wireless charging standardpromulgated by the Wireless Power Consortium, or the Rezence chargingstandard promulgated by the Alliance for Wireless Power, among others.

User interface circuitry 350 includes various input/output (I/O) devicespresent within, or connected to, the platform 300B, and includes one ormore user interfaces designed to enable user interaction with theplatform 300B and/or peripheral component interfaces designed to enableperipheral component interaction with the platform 300B. The userinterface circuitry 350 includes input device circuitry and outputdevice circuitry. Input device circuitry includes any physical orvirtual means for accepting an input including, inter alia, one or morephysical or virtual buttons (e.g., a reset button), a physical keyboard,keypad, mouse, touchpad, touchscreen, microphones, scanner, headset,and/or the like. The output device circuitry includes any physical orvirtual means for showing information or otherwise conveyinginformation, such as sensor readings, actuator position(s), or otherlike information. Output device circuitry may include any number and/orcombinations of audio or visual display, including, inter alia, one ormore simple visual outputs/indicators (e.g., binary status indicators(e.g., light emitting diodes (LEDs)) and multi-character visual outputs,or more complex outputs such as display devices or touchscreens (e.g.,Liquid Chrystal Displays (LCD), LED displays, quantum dot displays,projectors, etc.), with the output of characters, graphics, multimediaobjects, and the like being generated or produced from the operation ofthe platform 300B. The output device circuitry may also include speakersor other audio emitting devices, printer(s), and/or the like. In someembodiments, the sensor circuitry 321 may be used as the input devicecircuitry (e.g., an image capture device, motion capture device, or thelike) and one or more EMCs may be used as the output device circuitry(e.g., an actuator to provide haptic feedback or the like). In anotherexample, NFC circuitry comprising an NFC controller coupled with anantenna element and a processing device may be included to readelectronic tags and/or connect with another NFC-enabled device.Peripheral component interfaces may include, but are not limited to, anon-volatile memory port, a USB port, an audio jack, a power supplyinterface, etc.

Although not shown, the components of platform 300B may communicate withone another using a suitable bus or interconnect (IX) technology, whichmay include any number of technologies, including ISA, EISA, PCI, PCIx,PCIe, a Time-Trigger Protocol (TTP) system, a FlexRay system, or anynumber of other technologies. The bus/IX may be a proprietary bus/IX,for example, used in a SoC based system. Other bus/IX systems may beincluded, such as an I²C interface, an SPI interface, point-to-pointinterfaces, and a power bus, among others.

FIG. 8 illustrates example components of baseband circuitry 410 andradio front end modules (RFEM) 415 in accordance with variousembodiments. The baseband circuitry 410 corresponds to the basebandcircuitry 310 of FIGS. 7A and 7B. The RFEM 415 corresponds to the RFEM315 of FIGS. 7A and 7B. As shown, the RFEMs 415 may include RadioFrequency (RF) circuitry 406, front-end module (FEM) circuitry 408,antenna array 411 coupled together at least as shown.

The baseband circuitry 410 includes circuitry and/or control logicconfigured to carry out various radio/network protocol and radio controlfunctions that enable communication with one or more radio networks viathe RF circuitry 406. The radio control functions may include, but arenot limited to, signal modulation/demodulation, encoding/decoding, radiofrequency shifting, etc. In some embodiments, modulation/demodulationcircuitry of the baseband circuitry 410 may include Fast-FourierTransform (FFT), preceding, or constellation mapping/demappingfunctionality. In some embodiments, encoding/decoding circuitry of thebaseband circuitry 410 may include convolution, tail-biting convolution,turbo, Viterbi, or Low Density Panty Check (LDPC) encoder/decoderfunctionality. Embodiments of modulation/demodulation andencoder/decoder functionality are not limited to these examples and mayinclude other suitable functionality in other embodiments. The basebandcircuitry 410 is configured to process baseband signals received from areceive signal path of the RF circuitry 406 and to generate basebandsignals for a transmit signal path of the RF circuitry 406. The basebandcircuitry 410 is configured to interface with application circuitry 305(see FIGS. 7A and 7B) for generation and processing of the basebandsignals and for controlling operations of the RF circuitry 406. Thebaseband circuitry 410 may handle various radio control functions.

The aforementioned circuitry and/or control logic of the basebandcircuitry 410 may include one or more single or multi-core processors.For example, the one or more processors may include a 3G basebandprocessor 404A, a 4G/LTE baseband processor 404B, a 5G/NR basebandprocessor 404C, or some other baseband processor(s) 404D for otherexisting generations, generations in development or to be developed inthe future (e.g., sixth generation (6G), etc.). In other embodiments,some or all of the functionality of baseband processors 404A-D may beincluded in modules stored in the memory 404G and executed via a CentralProcessing Unit (CPU) 404E. In other embodiments, some or all of thefunctionality of baseband processors 404A-D may be provided as hardwareaccelerators (e.g., FPGAs, ASICs, etc.) loaded with the appropriate bitstreams or logic blocks stored in respective memory cells. In variousembodiments, the memory 404G may store program code of a real-time OS(RTOS), which when executed by the CPU 404E (or other basebandprocessor), is to cause the CPU 404E (or other baseband processor) tomanage resources of the baseband circuitry 410, schedule tasks, etc.Examples of the RTOS may include Operating System Embedded (OSE)™provided by Enea®, Nucleus RTOS™ provided by Mentor Graphics®, VersatileReal-Time Executive (VRTX) provided by Mentor Graphics®, ThreadX™provided by Express Logic®, FreeRTOS, REX OS provided by Qualcomm®, OKL4provided by Open Kernel (OK) Labs®, or any other suitable RTOS, such asthose discussed herein. In addition, the baseband circuitry 410 includesone or more audio digital signal processor(s) (DSP) 404F. The audioDSP(s) 404F include elements for compression/decompression and echocancellation and may include other suitable processing elements in otherembodiments.

In some embodiments, each of the processors 404A-404E include respectivememory interfaces to send/receive data to/from the memory 404G. Thebaseband circuitry 410 may further include one or more interfaces tocommunicatively couple to other circuitries/devices, such as aninterface to send/receive data to/from memory external to the basebandcircuitry 410; an application circuitry interface to send/receive datato/from the application circuitry 305 of FIG. 7-XT); an RF circuitryinterface to send/receive data to/from RF circuitry 406 of FIG. 8; awireless hardware connectivity interface to send/receive data to/fromone or more wireless hardware elements (e.g., Near Field Communication(NFC) components, Bluetooth®/Bluetooth® Low Energy components, Wi-Fi®components, and/or the like); and a power management interface tosend/receive power or control signals to/from the PMIC 325.

In alternate embodiments (which may be combined with the above describedembodiments), baseband circuitry 410 comprises one or more digitalbaseband systems, which are coupled with one another via an interconnectsubsystem and to a CPU subsystem, an audio subsystem, and an interfacesubsystem. The digital baseband subsystems may also be coupled to adigital baseband interface and a mixed-signal baseband subsystem viaanother interconnect subsystem. Each of the interconnect subsystems mayinclude a bus system, point-to-point connections, network-on-chip (NOC)structures, and/or some other suitable bus or interconnect technology,such as those discussed herein. The audio subsystem may include DSPcircuitry, buffer memory, program memory, speech processing acceleratorcircuitry, data converter circuitry such as analog-to-digital anddigital-to-analog converter circuitry, analog circuitry including one ormore of amplifiers and filters, and/or other like components. In anaspect of the present disclosure, baseband circuitry 410 may includeprotocol processing circuitry with one or more instances of controlcircuitry (not shown) to provide control functions for the digitalbaseband circuitry and/or radio frequency circuitry (e.g., the radiofront end modules 415).

Although not shown by FIG. 8, in some embodiments, the basebandcircuitry 410 includes individual processing device(s) to operate one ormore wireless communication protocols (e.g., a “multi-protocol basebandprocessor” or “protocol processing circuitry”) and individual processingdevice(s) to implement PHY layer functions. In these embodiments, thePHY layer functions include the aforementioned radio control functions.In these embodiments, the protocol processing circuitry operates orimplements various protocol layers/entities of one or more wirelesscommunication protocols. In a first example, the protocol processingcircuitry may operate LTE protocol entities and/or 5G/NR protocolentities when the baseband circuitry 410 and/or RF circuitry 406 arepart of mmWave communication circuitry or some other suitable cellularcommunication circuitry. In the first example, the protocol processingcircuitry would operate MAC, RLC, PDCP, SDAP, RRC, and NAS functions. Ina second example, the protocol processing circuitry may operate one ormore IEEE-based protocols when the baseband circuitry 410 and/or RFcircuitry 406 are part of a Wi-Fi communication system. In the secondexample, the protocol processing circuitry would operate Wi-Fi MAC andlogical link control (LLC) functions. The protocol processing circuitrymay include one or more memory structures (e.g., 404G) to store programcode and data for operating the protocol functions, as well as one ormore processing cores to execute the program code and perform variousoperations using the data. The baseband circuitry 410 may also supportradio communications for more than one wireless protocol.

The various hardware elements of the baseband circuitry 410 discussedherein may be implemented, for example, as a solder-down substrateincluding one or more integrated circuits (ICs), a single packaged ICsoldered to a main circuit board or a multi-chip module containing twoor more ICs. In one example, the components of the baseband circuitry410 may be suitably combined in a single chip or chipset, or disposed ona same circuit board. In another example, some or all of the constituentcomponents of the baseband circuitry 410 and RF circuitry 406 may beimplemented together such as, for example, a system on a chip (SoC) orSystem-in-Package (SiP). In another example, some or all of theconstituent components of the baseband circuitry 410 may be implementedas a separate SoC that is communicatively coupled with and RF circuitry406 (or multiple instances of RF circuitry 406). In yet another example,some or all of the constituent components of the baseband circuitry 410and the application circuitry 305 may be implemented together asindividual SoCs mounted to a same circuit board (e.g., a “multi-chippackage”).

In some embodiments, the baseband circuitry 410 may provide forcommunication compatible with one or more radio technologies. Forexample, in some embodiments, the baseband circuitry 410 may supportcommunication with an E-UTRAN or other WMAN, a WLAN, a WPAN. Embodimentsin which the baseband circuitry 410 is configured to support radiocommunications of more than one wireless protocol may be referred to asmulti-mode baseband circuitry.

RF circuitry 406 may enable communication with wireless networks usingmodulated electromagnetic radiation through a non-solid medium. Invarious embodiments, the RF circuitry 406 may include switches, filters,amplifiers, etc. to facilitate the communication with the wirelessnetwork. RF circuitry 406 may include a receive signal path, which mayinclude circuitry to down-convert RF signals received from the FEMcircuitry 408 and provide baseband signals to the baseband circuitry410. RF circuitry 406 may also include a transmit signal path, which mayinclude circuitry to up-convert baseband signals provided by thebaseband circuitry 410 and provide RF output signals to the FEMcircuitry 408 for transmission.

In some embodiments, the receive signal path of the RF circuitry 406 mayinclude mixer circuitry 406 a, amplifier circuitry 406 b and filtercircuitry 406 c. In some embodiments, the transmit signal path of the RFcircuitry 406 may include filter circuitry 406 c and mixer circuitry 406a. RF circuitry 406 may also include synthesizer circuitry 406 d forsynthesizing a frequency for use by the mixer circuitry 406 a of thereceive signal path and the transmit signal path. In some embodiments,the mixer circuitry 406 a of the receive signal path may be configuredto down-convert RF signals received from the HEM circuitry 408 based onthe synthesized frequency provided by synthesizer circuitry 406 d. Theamplifier circuitry 406 b may be configured to amplify thedown-converted signals and the filter circuitry 406 c may be a low-passfilter (LPF) or band-pass filter (BPF) configured to remove unwantedsignals from the down-converted signals to generate output basebandsignals. Output baseband signals may be provided to the basebandcircuitry 410 for further processing. In some embodiments, the outputbaseband signals may be zero-frequency baseband signals, although thisis not a requirement. In some embodiments, mixer circuitry 406 a of thereceive signal path may comprise passive mixers, although the scope ofthe embodiments is not limited in this respect.

In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 406 a of the transmit signalpath may be configured to up-convert input baseband signals based on thesynthesized frequency provided by the synthesizer circuitry 406 d togenerate RF output signals for the FEM circuitry 408. The basebandsignals may be provided by the baseband circuitry 410 and may befiltered by filter circuitry 406 c.

In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 406 a of the receive signalpath and the mixer circuitry 406 a of the transmit signal path mayinclude two or more mixers and may be arranged for quadraturedownconversion and upconversion, respectively. In some embodiments, themixer circuitry 406 a of the receive signal path and the mixer circuitry406 a of the transmit signal path may include two or more mixers and maybe arranged for image rejection (e.g., Hartley image rejection). In someembodiments, the mixer circuitry 406 a of the receive signal path andthe mixer circuitry 406 a of the transmit signal path may be arrangedfor direct downconversion and direct upconversion, respectively. In someembodiments, the mixer circuitry 406 a of the receive signal path andthe mixer circuitry 406 a of the transmit signal path may be configuredfor super-heterodyne operation.

In some embodiments, the output baseband signals and the input basebandsignals may be analog baseband signals, although the scope of theembodiments is not limited in this respect. In some alternateembodiments, the output baseband signals and the input baseband signalsmay be digital baseband signals. In these alternate embodiments, the RFcircuitry 406 may include analog-to-digital converter (ADC) anddigital-to-analog converter (DAC) circuitry and the baseband circuitry410 may include a digital baseband interface to communicate with the RFcircuitry 406.

In some dual-mode embodiments, a separate radio IC circuitry may beprovided for processing signals for each spectrum, although the scope ofthe embodiments is not limited in this respect.

In some embodiments, the synthesizer circuitry 406 d may be afractional-N synthesizer or a fractional N/N+1 synthesizer, although thescope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect as other typesof frequency synthesizers may be suitable. For example, synthesizercircuitry 406 d may be a delta-sigma synthesizer, a frequencymultiplier, or a synthesizer comprising a phase-locked loop with afrequency divider.

The synthesizer circuitry 406 d may be configured to synthesize anoutput frequency for use by the mixer circuitry 406 a of the RFcircuitry 406 based on a frequency input and a divider control input. Insome embodiments, the synthesizer circuitry 406 d may be a fractionalN/N+1 synthesizer.

In some embodiments, frequency input may be provided by a voltagecontrolled oscillator (VCO), although that is not a requirement. Dividercontrol input may be provided by either the baseband circuitry 410 orthe application circuitry 305 depending on the desired output frequency.In some embodiments, a divider control input (e.g., N) may be determinedfrom a look-up table based on a channel indicated by the applicationcircuitry 305.

Synthesizer circuitry 406 d of the RF circuitry 406 may include adivider, a delay-locked loop (DLL), a multiplexer and a phaseaccumulator. In some embodiments, the divider may be a dual modulusdivider (DMD) and the phase accumulator may be a digital phaseaccumulator (DPA). In some embodiments, the DMD may be configured todivide the input signal by either N or N+1 (e.g., based on a carry out)to provide a fractional division ratio. In some example embodiments, theDLL may include a set of cascaded, tunable, delay elements, a phasedetector, a charge pump and a D-type In these embodiments, the delayelements may be configured to break a VCO period up into Nd equalpackets of phase, where Nd is the number of delay elements in the delayline. In this way, the DLL provides negative feedback to help ensurethat the total delay through the delay line is one VCO cycle.

In some embodiments, synthesizer circuitry 406 d may be configured togenerate a carrier frequency as the output frequency, while in otherembodiments, the output frequency may be a multiple of the carrierfrequency (e.g., twice the carrier frequency, four times the carrierfrequency) and used in conjunction with quadrature generator and dividercircuitry to generate multiple signals at the carrier frequency withmultiple different phases with respect to each other. In someembodiments, the output frequency may be a LO frequency (fLO). In someembodiments, the RF circuitry 406 may include an IQ/polar converter.

FEM circuitry 408 may include a receive signal path, which may includecircuitry configured to operate on RF signals received from antennaarray 411, amplify the received signals and provide the amplifiedversions of the received signals to the RF circuitry 406 for furtherprocessing. FEM circuitry 408 may also include a transmit signal path,which may include circuitry configured to amplify signals fortransmission provided by the RF circuitry 406 for transmission by one ormore of antenna elements of antenna array 411. In various embodiments,the amplification through the transmit or receive signal paths may bedone solely in the RF circuitry 406, solely in the FEM circuitry 408, orin both the RF circuitry 406 and the FEM circuitry 408.

In some embodiments, the FEM circuitry 408 may include a TX/RX switch toswitch between transmit mode and receive mode operation. The FEMcircuitry 408 may include a receive signal path and a transmit signalpath. The receive signal path of the FEM circuitry 408 may include anLNA to amplify received RF signals and provide the amplified received RFsignals as an output (e.g., to the RF circuitry 406). The transmitsignal path of the FEM circuitry 408 may include a power amplifier (PA)to amplify input RF signals (e.g., provided by RF circuitry 406), andone or more filters to generate RF signals for subsequent transmissionby one or more antenna elements of the antenna array 411.

The antenna array 411 comprises one or more antenna elements, each ofwhich is configured convert electrical signals into radio waves totravel through the air and to convert received radio waves intoelectrical signals. For example, digital baseband signals provided bythe baseband circuitry 410 is converted into analog RF signals (e.g.,modulated waveform) that will be amplified and transmitted via theantenna elements of the antenna array 411 including one or more antennaelements (not shown). The antenna elements may be omnidirectional,direction, or a combination thereof. The antenna elements may be formedin a multitude of arranges as are known and/or discussed herein. Theantenna array 411 may comprise microstrip antennas or printed antennasthat are fabricated on the surface of one or more printed circuitboards. The antenna array 411 may be formed in as a patch of metal foil(e.g., a patch antenna) in a variety of shapes, and may be coupled withthe RF circuitry 406 and/or FEM circuitry 408 using metal transmissionlines or the like.

Processors of the application circuitry 305 and processors of thebaseband circuitry 410 may be used to execute elements of one or moreinstances of a protocol stack. For example, processors of the basebandcircuitry 410, alone or in combination, may be used execute Layer 3,Layer 2, or Layer 1 functionality, while processors of the applicationcircuitry 305 may utilize data (e.g., packet data) received from theselayers and further execute Layer 4 functionality (e.g., TCP and UDPlayers). As referred to herein, Layer 3 may comprise a RRC layer,described in further detail below. As referred to herein, Layer 2 maycomprise a MAC layer, an RLC layer, and a PDCP layer, described infurther detail below. As referred to herein, Layer 1 may comprise a PHYlayer of a UE/RAN node, described in further detail below.

FIG. 9 illustrates various protocol functions that may be implemented ina wireless communication device according to various embodiments. Inparticular, FIG. 9 includes an arrangement 500 showing interconnectionsbetween various protocol layers/entities. The following description ofFIG. 9 is provided for various protocol layers/entities that operate inconjunction with the 5G/NR system standards and LTE system standards,but some or all of the aspects of FIG. 9 may be applicable to otherwireless communication network systems as well.

The protocol layers of arrangement 500 may include one or more of PHY510, MAC 520, RLC 530, PDCP 540, SDAP 547, RRC 555, and NAS layer 557,in addition to other higher layer functions not illustrated. Theprotocol layers may include one or more service access points (e.g.,items 559, 556, 550, 549, 545, 535, 525, and 515 in FIG. 9) that mayprovide communication between two or more protocol layers.

The PHY 510 may transmit and receive physical layer signals 505 that maybe received from or transmitted to one or more other communicationdevices. The physical layer signals 505 may comprise one or morephysical channels, such as those discussed herein. The PHY 510 mayfurther perform link adaptation or adaptive modulation and coding (AMC),power control, cell search (e.g., for initial synchronization andhandover purposes), and other measurements used by higher layers, suchas the RRC 555. The PHY 510 may still further perform error detection onthe transport channels, forward error correction (FEC) coding/decodingof the transport channels, modulation/demodulation of physical channels,interleaving, rate matching, mapping onto physical channels, and MEMantenna processing. In embodiments, an instance of PHY 510 may processrequests from and provide indications to an instance of MAC 520 via oneor more PHY-SAP 515. According to some embodiments, requests andindications communicated via PHY-SAP 515 may comprise one or moretransport channels.

Instance(s) of MAC 520 may process requests from, and provideindications to, an instance of RLC 530 via one or more MAC-SAPs 525.These requests and indications communicated via the MAC-SAP 525 maycomprise one or more logical channels. The MAC 520 may perform mappingbetween the logical channels and transport channels, multiplexing of MACSDUs from one or more logical channels onto TBs to be delivered to PHY510 via the transport channels, de-multiplexing MAC SDUs to one or morelogical channels from TBs delivered from the PHY 510 via transportchannels, multiplexing MAC SDUs onto TBs, scheduling informationreporting, error correction through HARQ, and logical channelprioritization.

Instance(s) of RLC 530 may process requests from and provide indicationsto an instance of PDCP 540 via one or more radio link control serviceaccess points (RLC-SAP) 535. These requests and indications communicatedvia RLC-SAP 535 may comprise one or more RLC channels. The RLC 530 mayoperate in a plurality of modes of operation, including: TransparentMode™, Unacknowledged Mode (UM), and Acknowledged Mode (AM). The RLC 530may execute transfer of upper layer protocol data units (PDUs), errorcorrection through automatic repeat request (ARQ) for AM data transfers,and concatenation, segmentation and reassembly of RLC SDUs for UM andANT data transfers. The RLC 530 may also execute re-segmentation of RLCdata PDUs for AM data transfers, reorder RLC data PDUs for UM and AMdata transfers, detect duplicate data for UM and ANT data transfers,discard RLC SDUs for UM and AM data transfers, detect protocol errorsfor AM data transfers, and perform RLC re-establishment.

Instance(s) of PDCP 540 may process requests from and provideindications to instance(s) of RRC 555 and/or instance(s) of SDAP 547 viaone or more packet data convergence protocol service access points(PDCP-SAP) 545. These requests and indications communicated via PDCP-SAP545 may comprise one or more radio bearers. The PDCP 540 may executeheader compression and decompression of IP data, maintain PDCP SequenceNumbers (SNs), perform in-sequence delivery of upper layer PDUs atre-establishment of lower layers, eliminate duplicates of lower layerSDUs at re-establishment of lower layers for radio bearers mapped on RLCAM, cipher and decipher control plane data, perform integrity protectionand integrity verification of control plane data, control timer-baseddiscard of data, and perform security operations (e.g., ciphering,deciphering, integrity protection, integrity verification, etc.).

Instance(s) of SDAP 547 may process requests from and provideindications to one or more higher layer protocol entities via one ormore SDAP-SAP 549. These requests and indications communicated viaSDAP-SAP 549 may comprise one or more QoS flows. The SDAP 547 may mapQoS flows to DRBs, and vice versa, and may also mark QFIs in DL and ULpackets. A single SDAP entity 547 may be configured for an individualPDU session. In the UL direction, the NG-RAN 110 may control the mappingof QoS Flows to DRB(s) in two different ways, reflective mapping orexplicit mapping. For reflective mapping, the SDAP 547 of a UE 101 maymonitor the QFIs of the DL packets for each DRB, and may apply the samemapping for packets flowing in the UL direction. For a DRB, the SDAP 547of the UE 101 may map the UL packets belonging to the QoS flows(s)corresponding to the QoS flow ID(s) and PDU session observed in the DLpackets for that DRB. To enable reflective mapping, the NG-RAN 210B maymark DL packets over the Uu interface with a QoS flow ID. The explicitmapping may involve the RRC 555 configuring the SDAP 547 with anexplicit QoS flow to DRB mapping rule, which may be stored and followedby the SDAP 547. In embodiments, the SDAP 547 may only be used in NRimplementations and may not be used in LTE implementations.

The RRC 555 may configure, via one or more management service accesspoints (M-SAP), aspects of one or more protocol layers, which mayinclude one or more instances of PHY 510, MAC 520, RLC 530, PDCP 540 andSDAP 547. In embodiments, an instance of RRC 555 may process requestsfrom and provide indications to one or more NAS entities 557 via one ormore RRC-SAPs 556. The main services and functions of the RRC 555 mayinclude broadcast of system information (e.g., included in MBs or SIBsrelated to the NAS), broadcast of system information related to theaccess stratum (AS), paging, establishment, maintenance and release ofan RRC connection between the UE 101 and RAN 110 (e.g., RRC connectionpaging, RRC connection establishment, RRC connection modification, andRRC connection release), establishment, configuration, maintenance andrelease of point to point Radio Bearers, security functions includingkey management, inter-RAT mobility, and measurement configuration for UEmeasurement reporting. The MIBs and SIBs may comprise one or more IEs,which may each comprise individual data fields or data structures.

The NAS 557 may form the highest stratum of the control plane betweenthe UE 101 and the AMF 221B. The NAS 557 may support the mobility of theUEs 101 and the session management procedures to establish and maintainIP connectivity between the UE 101 and a P-GW in LTE systems.

According to various embodiments, one or more protocol entities ofarrangement 500 may be implemented in UEs 101, RAN nodes 111, AMF 221Bin NR implementations or MME 221A in LTE implementations, UPF 202 in NRimplementations or S-GW 222A and P-GW 223A in LTE implementations, orthe like to be used for control plane or user plane communicationsprotocol stack between the aforementioned devices. In such 222Aembodiments, one or more protocol entities that may be implemented inone or more of UE 101, gNB 111, AMF 221B, etc. may communicate with arespective peer protocol entity that may be implemented in or on anotherdevice using the services of respective lower layer protocol entities toperform such communication. In some embodiments, a gNB-CU of the gNB 111may host the RRC 555, SDAP 547, and PDCP 540 of the gNB that controlsthe operation of one or more gNB-DUs, and the gNB-DUs of the gNB 111 mayeach host the RLC 530, MAC 520, and PHY 510 of the gNB 111.

In a first example, a control plane protocol stack may comprise, inorder from highest layer to lowest layer, NAS 557, RRC 555, PDCP 540,RLC 530, MAC 520, and PHY 510. In this example, upper layers 560 may bebuilt on top of the NAS 557, which includes an IP layer 561, an SCTP562, and an application layer signaling protocol (AP) 563.

In NR implementations, the AP 563 may be an NG application protocollayer (NGAP or NG-AP) 563 for the NG interface 113 defined between theNG-RAN node 111 and the AMF 221B, or the AP 563 may be an Xn applicationprotocol layer (XnAP or Xn-AP) 563 for the Xn interface 112 that isdefined between two or more RAN nodes 111.

The NG-AP 563 may support the functions of the NG interface 113 and maycomprise Elementary Procedures (EPs). An NG-AP EP may be a unit ofinteraction between the NG-RAN node 111 and the AMF 221B. The NG-AP 563services may comprise two groups: UE-associated services (e.g., servicesrelated to a UE 101, 102) and non-UE-associated services (e.g., servicesrelated to the whole NG interface instance between the NG-RAN node 111and AMF 221B). These services may include functions including, but notlimited to: a paging function for the sending of paging requests toNG-RAN nodes 111 involved in a particular paging area; a UE contextmanagement function for allowing the AMF 221B to establish, modify,and/or release a TIE context in the AMF 221B and the NG-RAN node 111; amobility function for UEs 101 in ECM-CONNECTED mode for intra-system HUsto support mobility within NG-RAN and inter-system HOs to supportmobility from/to EPS systems; a NAS Signaling Transport function fortransporting or rerouting NAS messages between UE 101 and AMF 221B; aNAS node selection function for determining an association between theAMF 221B and the UE 101; NG interface management function(s) for settingup the NG interface and monitoring for errors over the NG interface; awarning message transmission function for providing means to transferwarning messages via. NG interface or cancel ongoing broadcast ofwarning messages; a Configuration Transfer function for requesting andtransferring of RAN configuration information (e.g., SON information,performance measurement (PM) data, etc.) between two RAN nodes 111 viaCN 120; and/or other like functions.

The XnAP 563 may support the functions of the Xn interface 112 and maycomprise XnAP basic mobility procedures and XnAP global procedures. TheXnAP basic mobility procedures may comprise procedures used to handle UEmobility within the NG RAN 111 (or E-UTRAN 210A), such as handoverpreparation and cancellation procedures, SN Status Transfer procedures,UE context retrieval and UE context release procedures, RAN pagingprocedures, dual connectivity related procedures, and the like. The XnAPglobal procedures may comprise procedures that are not related to aspecific UE 101, such as Xn interface setup and reset procedures, NG-RANupdate procedures, cell activation procedures, and the like.

In LTE implementations, the AP 563 may be an S1 Application Protocollayer (S1-AP) 563 for the 51 interface 113 defined between an E-UTRANnode 111 and an MIME, or the AP 563 may be an X2 application protocollayer (X2AP or X2-AP) 563 for the X2 interface 112 that is definedbetween two or more E-UTRAN nodes 111.

The S1 Application Protocol layer (SI-AP) 563 may support the functionsof the S1 interface, and similar to the NG-AP discussed previously, theSI-AP may comprise S1-AP EPs. An S1-AP EP may be a unit of interactionbetween the E-UTRAN node 111 and an MME 221A within an LTE CN 120. TheSI-AP 563 services may comprise two groups: UE-associated services andnon UE-associated services. These services perform functions including,but not limited to: E-UTRAN Radio Access Bearer (E-RAB) management, UEcapability indication, mobility, NAS signaling transport, RANInformation Management (RIM), and configuration transfer.

The X2AP 563 may support the functions of the X2 interface 112 and maycomprise X2AP basic mobility procedures and X2AP global procedures. TheX2AP basic mobility procedures may comprise procedures used to handle UEmobility within the E-UTRAN 120, such as handover preparation andcancellation procedures, SN Status Transfer procedures, UE contextretrieval and UE context release procedures, RAN paging procedures, dualconnectivity related procedures, and the like. The X2AP globalprocedures may comprise procedures that are not related to a specific UE101, such as X2 interface setup and reset procedures, load indicationprocedures, error indication procedures, cell activation procedures, andthe like.

The SCTP layer (alternatively referred to as the SCTP/IP layer) 562 mayprovide guaranteed delivery of application layer messages (e.g., NGAP orXnAP messages in NR implementations, or S1-AP or X2AP messages in LTEimplementations). The SCTP 562 may ensure reliable delivery of signalingmessages between the RAN node 111 and the AMF 221B/MME 221A based, inpart, on the IP protocol, supported by the IP 561. The Internet Protocollayer (IP) 561 may be used to perform packet addressing and routingfunctionality. In some implementations the IP layer 561 may usepoint-to-point transmission to deliver and convey PDUs. In this regard,the RAN node 111 may comprise L2 and L1 layer communication links (e.g.,wired or wireless) with the MME/AMF to exchange information.

In a second example, a user plane protocol stack may comprise, in orderfrom highest layer to lowest layer, SDAP 547, PDCP 540, RLC 530, MAC520, and PHY 510. The user plane protocol stack may be used forcommunication between the UE 101, the RAN node 111, and UPF 202 in NRimplementations or an S-GW 222A and P-GW 223A in LTE implementations. Inthis example, upper layers 551 may be built on top of the SDAP 547, andmay include a user datagram protocol (UDP) and IP security layer(UDP/IP) 552, a General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) Tunneling Protocolfor the user plane layer (GTP-U) 553, and a User Plane PDU layer (UPPDU) 563.

The transport network layer 554 (also referred to as a “transportlayer”) may be built on IP transport, and the GTP-U 553 may be used ontop of the UDP/IP layer 552 (comprising a UDP layer and IP layer) tocarry user plane PDUs (UP-PDUs). The IP layer (also referred to as the“Internet layer”) may be used to perform packet addressing and routingfunctionality. The IP layer may assign IP addresses to user data packetsin any of IPv4, IPv6, or PPP formats, for example.

The GTP-U 553 may be used for carrying user data within the GPRS corenetwork and between the radio access network and the core network. Theuser data transported can be packets in any of IPv4, IPv6, or PPPformats, for example. The UDP/IP 552 may provide checksums for dataintegrity, port numbers for addressing different functions at the sourceand destination, and encryption and authentication on the selected dataflows. The RAN node 111 and the S-GW 222A may utilize an S1-U interfaceto exchange user plane data via a protocol stack comprising an L1 layer(e.g., PHY 510), an L2 layer (e.g., MAC 520, RLC 530, PDCP 540, and/orSDAP 547), the UDP/IP layer 552, and the GTP-U 553. The S-GW 222A andthe P-GW 223A may utilize an S5/S8a interface to exchange user planedata via a protocol stack comprising an L1 layer, an L2 layer, theUDP/IP layer 552, and the GTP-U 553. As discussed previously, NASprotocols may support the mobility of the UE 101 and the sessionmanagement procedures to establish and maintain IP connectivity betweenthe UE 101 and the P-GW 223A.

Moreover, although not shown by FIG. 9, an application layer may bepresent above the AP 563 and/or the transport network layer 554. Theapplication layer may be a layer in which a user of the HE 101, RAN node111, or other network element interacts with software applications beingexecuted, for example, by application circuitry 305 or applicationcircuitry 305, respectively. The application layer may also provide oneor more interfaces for software applications to interact withcommunications systems of the UE 101 or RAN node 111, such as thebaseband circuitry 410. In some implementations the IP layer and/or theapplication layer may provide the same or similar functionality aslayers 5-7, or portions thereof, of the Open Systems Interconnection(OSI) model (e.g., OSI Layer 7—the application layer, OSI Layer 6—thepresentation layer, and OSI Layer 5—the session layer).

FIG. 10 illustrates components of a core network in accordance withvarious embodiments. The components of the CN 220A may be implemented inone physical node or separate physical nodes including components toread and execute instructions from a machine-readable orcomputer-readable medium (e.g., a non-transitory machine-readablestorage medium). In embodiments, the components of CN 220B may beimplemented in a same or similar manner as discussed herein with regardto the components of CN 220A. In some embodiments, NFV is utilized tovirtualize any or all of the above-described network node functions viaexecutable instructions stored in one or more computer-readable storagemediums (described in further detail below). A logical instantiation ofthe CN 220A may be referred to as a network slice 601, and individuallogical instantiations of the CN 220A may provide specific networkcapabilities and network characteristics. A logical instantiation of aportion of the CN 220A may be referred to as a network sub-slice 602(e.g., the network sub-slice 602 is shown to include the P-GW 223A andthe PCRF 226A).

As used herein, the terms “instantiate,” “instantiation,” and the likemay refer to the creation of an instance, and an “instance” may refer toa concrete occurrence of an object, which may occur, for example, duringexecution of program code. A network instance may refer to informationidentifying a domain, which may be used for traffic detection androuting in case of different IP domains or overlapping IP addresses. Anetwork slice instance may refer to a set of network functions (NFs)instances and the resources (e.g., compute, storage, and networkingresources) required to deploy the network slice.

With respect to 5G systems (see, e.g., FIG. 6B), a network slice alwayscomprises a RAN part and a CN part. The support of network slicingrelies on the principle that traffic for different slices is handled bydifferent PDU sessions. The network can realize the different networkslices by scheduling and also by providing different L1/L2configurations. The UE 201 provides assistance information for networkslice selection in an appropriate RRC message, if it has been providedby NAS. While the network can support large number of slices, the UEneed not support more than 8 slices simultaneously.

A network slice may include the CN 220B control plane and user planeNFs, NG-RANs 210B in a serving PLMN, and a N3IWF functions in theserving PLMN. Individual network slices may have different S-NSSAIand/or may have different SSTs. NSSAI includes one or more S-NSSAIs, andeach network slice is uniquely identified by an S-NSSAI. Network slicesmay differ for supported features and network functions optimizations,and/or multiple network slice instances may deliver the sameservice/features but for different groups of UEs 201 (e.g., enterpriseusers). For example, individual network slices may deliver differentcommitted service(s) and/or may be dedicated to a particular customer orenterprise. In this example, each network slice may have differentS-NSSAIs with the same SST but with different slice differentiators.Additionally, a single UE may be served with one or more network sliceinstances simultaneously via a 5G AN and associated with eight differentS-NSSAIs. Moreover, an AMF 221B instance serving an individual UE 201may belong to each of the network slice instances serving that UE.

Network Slicing in the NG-RAN 210B involves RAN slice awareness. RANslice awareness includes differentiated handling of traffic fordifferent network slices, which have been pre-configured. Sliceawareness in the NG-RAN 2109 is introduced at the PDU session level byindicating the S-NSSAI corresponding to a PDU session in all signalingthat includes PDU session resource information. How the NG-RAN 210Bsupports the slice enabling in terms of NG-RAN functions (e.g., the setof network functions that comprise each slice) is implementationdependent. The NG-RAN 210B selects the RAN part of the network sliceusing assistance information provided by the UE 201 or the 5GC 2209,which unambiguously identifies one or more of the pre-configured networkslices in the PLMN. The NG-RAN 2109 also supports resource managementand policy enforcement between slices as per SLAs. A single NG-RAN nodemay support multiple slices, and the NG-RAN 210B may also apply anappropriate RRM policy for the SLA in place to each supported slice. TheNG-RAN 210B may also support QoS differentiation within a slice.

The NG-RAN 210B may also use the UE assistance information for theselection of an AMF 221B during an initial attach, if available. TheNG-RAN 210B uses the assistance information for routing the initial NASto an AMF 221B. If the NG-RAN 210B is unable to select an AMF 221B usingthe assistance information, or the UE 201 does not provide any suchinformation, the NG-RAN 210B sends the NAS signaling to a default AMF221B, which may be among a pool of AMFs 221B. For subsequent accesses,the UE 201 provides a temp ID, which is assigned to the UE 201 by the5GC 220B, to enable the NG-RAN 210B to route the NAS message to theappropriate AMF 221B as long as the temp ID is valid. The NG-RAN 210B isaware of, and can reach, the AMF 221B that is associated with the tempID. Otherwise, the method for initial attach applies.

The NG-RAN 210B supports resource isolation between slices. NG-RAN 210Bresource isolation may be achieved by means of RRM policies andprotection mechanisms that should avoid that shortage of sharedresources if one slice breaks the service level agreement for anotherslice. In some implementations, it is possible to fully dedicate NG-RAN210B resources to a certain slice. How NG-RAN 210B supports resourceisolation is implementation dependent.

Some slices may be available only in part of the network. Awareness inthe NG-RAN 210B of the slices supported in the cells of its neighborsmay be beneficial for inter-frequency mobility in connected mode. Theslice availability may not change within the UE's registration area. TheNG-RAN 210B and the 5GC 220B are responsible to handle a service requestfor a slice that may or may not be available in a given area. Admissionor rejection of access to a slice may depend on factors such as supportfor the slice, availability of resources, support of the requestedservice by NG-RAN 210B.

The UE 201 may be associated with multiple network slicessimultaneously. In case the UE 201 is associated with multiple slicessimultaneously, only one signaling connection is maintained, and forintra-frequency cell reselection, the UE 201 tries to camp on the bestcell. For inter-frequency cell reselection, dedicated priorities may beused to control the frequency on which the UE 201 camps. The 5GC 220B isto validate that the UE 201 has the rights to access a network slice.Prior to receiving an Initial Context Setup Request message, the NG-RAN210B may be allowed to apply some provisional/local policies, based onawareness of a particular slice that the UE 201 is requesting to access.During the initial context setup, the NG-RAN 2109 is informed of theslice for which resources are being requested.

NFV architectures and infrastructures may be used to virtualize one ormore NFs, alternatively performed by proprietary hardware, onto physicalresources comprising a combination of industry-standard server hardware,storage hardware, or switches. In other words, NFV systems may be usedto execute virtual or reconfigurable implementations of one or more EPCcomponents/functions.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram illustrating components, according to someexample embodiments, of a system 700 to support NFV. The system 700 isillustrated as including a VIM 702, an NFVI 704, an VNFM 706, VNFs 708,an EM 710, an NFVO 712, and a NM 714.

The VIM 702 manages the resources of the NFVI 704. The NFVI 704 caninclude physical or virtual resources and applications (includinghypervisors) used to execute the system 700. The VIM 702 may manage thelife cycle of virtual resources with the NFVI 704 (e.g., creation,maintenance, and tear down of VMs associated with one or more physicalresources), track VM instances, track performance, fault and security ofVM instances and associated physical resources, and expose VM instancesand associated physical resources to other management systems.

The VNFM 706 may manage the VNFs 708. The VNFs 708 may be used toexecute EPC components/functions. The VNFM 706 may manage the life cycleof the VNFs 708 and track performance, fault and security of the virtualaspects of VNFs 708. The EM XY10 may track the performance, fault andsecurity of the functional aspects of VNFs 708. The tracking data fromthe VNFM 706 and the EM 710 may comprise, for example, PM data used bythe VIM 702 or the NFVI 704. Both the VNFM 706 and the EM 710 can scaleup/down the quantity of VNFs of the system 700.

The NFVO 712 may coordinate, authorize, release and engage resources ofthe NFVI 704 in order to provide the requested service (e.g., to executean EPC function, component, or slice). The NM 714 may provide a packageof end-user functions with the responsibility for the management of anetwork, which may include network elements with VNFs, non-virtualizednetwork functions, or both (management of the VNFs may occur via the EM710).

FIG. 12 is a block diagram illustrating components, according to someexample embodiments, able to read instructions from a machine-readableor computer-readable medium (e.g., a non-transitory machine-readablestorage medium) and perform any one or more of the methodologiesdiscussed herein. Specifically, FIG. 12 shows a diagrammaticrepresentation of hardware resources 800 including one or moreprocessors (or processor cores) 810, one or more memory/storage devices820, and one or more communication resources 830, each of which may becommunicatively coupled via a bus 840. For embodiments where nodevirtualization (e.g., NFV) is utilized, a hypervisor 802 may be executedto provide an execution environment for one or more networkslices/sub-slices to utilize the hardware resources 800.

The processors 810 may include, for example, a processor 812 and aprocessor 814. The processor(s) 810 may be, for example, a centralprocessing unit (CPU), a reduced instruction set computing (RISC)processor, a complex instruction set computing (CISC) processor, agraphics processing unit (GPU), a DSP such as a baseband processor, anASIC, an FPGA, a radio-frequency integrated circuit (RFIC), anotherprocessor (including those discussed herein), or any suitablecombination thereof.

The memory/storage devices 820 may include main memory, disk storage, orany suitable combination thereof. The memory/storage devices 820 mayinclude, but are not limited to, any type of volatile or nonvolatilememory such as dynamic random access memory (DRAM), static random accessmemory (SRAM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM),electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), Flashmemory, solid-state storage, etc.

The communication resources 830 may include interconnection or networkinterface components or other suitable devices to communicate with oneor more peripheral devices 804 or one or more databases 806 via anetwork 808. For example, the communication resources 830 may includewired communication components (e.g., for coupling via USB), cellularcommunication components, NFC components, Bluetooth® (or Bluetooth® LowEnergy) components, Wi-Fi® components, and other communicationcomponents.

Instructions 850 may comprise software, a program, an application, anapplet, an app, or other executable code for causing at least any of theprocessors 810 to perform any one or more of the methodologies discussedherein. The instructions 850 may reside, completely or partially, withinat least one of the processors 810 (e.g., within the processor's cachememory), the memory/storage devices 820, or any suitable combinationthereof. Furthermore, any portion of the instructions 850 may betransferred to the hardware resources 800 from any combination of theperipheral devices 804 or the databases 806. Accordingly, the memory ofprocessors 810, the memory/storage devices 820, the peripheral devices804, and the databases 806 are examples of computer-readable andmachine-readable media.

Example Procedures

In some embodiments, the electronic device(s), network(s), system(s),chip(s) or component(s), or portions or implementations thereof, ofFIGS. 1-12, or some other figure herein, may be configured to performone or more processes, techniques, or methods as described herein, orportions thereof. One such process is depicted in FIG. 13. For example,the process may include:

receiving or causing to receive a signal; processing or causing toprocess the signal; and transmitting or causing to transmit anothersignal (step 1315) based on the processed signal, wherein the methodcomprises generating a phase tracking reference signal (PT-RS)associated with a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) with singlecarrier waveform (step 1305); and generating a PT-RS associated with aphysical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) with single carrier waveform(step 1310); wherein the single carrier waveform may include DiscreteFourier Transform-spread-OFDM (DFT-s-OFDM) and/or single carrier withfrequency domain equalizer (SC-FDE).

The process may further comprising applying group based PT-RS patternfor Discrete Fourier Transform-spread-OFDM (DFT-s-OFDM) waveform for DLtransmission, where each group occupies K consecutive samples in timedomain prior to DFT operation.

The process may include wherein the presence of PT-RS may depend on theRadio Network Temporary Identifier (RNTI) scheduling the correspondingPDSCH and/or PUSCH.

The process may include defining a default PT-RS pattern in time andfrequency for DFT-s-OFDM waveform. When PDSCH or PUSCH scheduled byPDCCH with C-RNTI, CS-RNTI and/or MCS-RNTI, and the PDCCH format is fallback DCI format, e.g., including DCI format 0_0 and 1_0, applying adefault PT-RS pattern, or PT-RS shall not be present.

The process may include during multiple transmit-receive point(multi-TRP) or multiple panel based operation, applying orthogonal covercode (OCC) may be applied for the transmission of PT-RS from differentpanels or different TRPs.

The process may include generating a PT-RS sequence is in accordancewith at least one of the following parameters:sub-block/block/slot/frame index, virtual cell ID or physical cell ID orRNTI or higher layer configured ID used for demodulation referencesignal (DMRS) sequence generation for the DMRS port that the PT-RS isassociated with.

The process may include generating PT-RS based on a guard interval (GI)sequence.

The process may include applying power boosting for the transmission ofPT-RS.

The process may include generating PT-RS based on a portion ofinformation bits for data transmission.

The process may include employing a predetermined modulation order ofPT-RS, e.g., BPSK or QPSK transmission of PT-RS.

The process may include configuring modulation order of PT-RS by higherlayers or dynamically indicated by DCI or a combination thereof.

The process may include determining PT-RS pattern in time domain can binaccordance with MCS of a scheduled data transmission and/or transmissionduration in time and/or configured by higher layers via radio resourcecontrol (RRC) signaling or dynamically indicated in the downlink controlinformation (DCI) or a combination thereof.

The process may include employing a bandwidth part (BWP) fortransmission of data channel and a PT-RS pattern in time domain inaccordance with the bandwidth of BWP.

The process may include applying sampling rate adaptation, i.e., thenumber of samples within a block is reduced, and the PT-RS group patternassociated with corresponding data transmission can be may be adjustedaccordingly.

The process may include uniformly distributing PT-RS groups within onedata or sub-block.

The process may include determining the starting position of PT-RS groupas a function of cell ID and/or RNTI and/or DMRS port index the PT-RS isassociated with and/or a higher layer configured ID for the DMRSsequence generation for DMRS port the PT-RS associated with.

For one or more embodiments, at least one of the components set forth inone or more of the preceding figures may be configured to perform one ormore operations, techniques, processes, and/or methods as set forth inthe example section below. For example, the baseband circuitry asdescribed above in connection with one or more of the preceding figuresmay be configured to operate in accordance with one or more of theexamples set forth below. For another example, circuitry associated witha UE, base station, network element, etc. as described above inconnection with one or more of the preceding figures may be configuredto operate in accordance with one or more of the examples set forthbelow in the example section.

EXAMPLES

The examples may include a method of wireless communication for a fifthgeneration (5G) or new radio (NR) system or a system for implementingthe method, wherein the method comprises: generating, by a gNodeB (gNB),a phase tracking reference signal (PT-RS) associated with a physicaldownlink shared channel (PDSCH) with single carrier waveform; andgenerating, by UE, a PT-RS associated with a physical uplink sharedchannel (PUSCH) with single carrier waveform; wherein the single carrierwaveform may include Discrete Fourier Transform-spread-OFDM (DFT-s-OFDM)and single carrier with frequency domain equalizer (SC-FDE).

Example 1 may include the system and/or method of example 1 or someother example herein, wherein group based PT-RS pattern is applied forDiscrete Fourier Transform-spread-OFDM (DFT-s-OFDM) waveform for DLtransmission, where each group occupies K consecutive samples in timedomain prior to DFT operation.

Example 2 may include the system and/or method of example 1-2 or someother example herein, wherein the presence of PT-RS may depend on theRadio Network Temporary Identifier (RNTI) scheduling the correspondingPDSCH and/or PUSCH.

Example 3 may include the system and/or method of example 1-3 or someother example herein, wherein a default PT-RS pattern may be defined intime and frequency for DFT-s-OFDM waveform; when PDSCH or PUSCHscheduled by PDCCH with C-RNTI, CS-RNTI and/or MCS-RNTI, and the PDCCHformat is fall back DCI format, e.g., including DCI format 0_0 and 1_0,the default PT-RS pattern may be applied, or PT-RS shall not be present.

Example 4 may include the system and/or method of example 1-4 or someother example herein, wherein for multiple transmit-receive point(multi-TRP) or multiple panels based operation, orthogonal cover code(OCC) may be applied for the transmission of PT-RS from different panelsor different TRPs.

Example 5 may include the system and/or method of example 1-5 or someother example herein, wherein the PT-RS sequence may be generated inaccordance with at least one of the following parameters:sub-block/block/slot/frame index, virtual cell ID or physical cell ID orRNTI or higher layer configured ID used for demodulation referencesignal (DMRS) sequence generation for the DMRS port that the PT-RS isassociated with.

Example 6 may include the system and/or method of example 1-6 or someother example herein, wherein PT-RS may be generated based on the guardinterval (GI) sequence.

Example 7 may include the system and/or method of example 1-7 or someother example herein, wherein power boosting may be applied for thetransmission of PT-RS.

Example 8 may include the system and/or method of example 1-8 or someother example herein, wherein PT-RS may be generated based on a portionof information bits for data transmission

Example 9 may include the system and/or method of example 1-9 or someother example herein, wherein the modulation order of PT-RS may bepredetermined in the specification, e.g., BPSK or QPSK may be employedfor the transmission of PT-RS.

Example 10 may include the system and/or method of example 1-10 or someother example herein, wherein the modulation order of PT-RS may beconfigured by higher layers or dynamically indicated by DCI or acombination thereof.

Example 11 may include the system and/or method of example 1-11 or someother example herein, wherein PT-RS pattern in time domain may bedetermined in accordance with MCS of the scheduled data transmissionand/or transmission duration in time and/or configured by higher layersvia radio resource control (RRC) signaling or dynamically indicated inthe downlink control information (DCI) or a combination thereof.

Example 12 may include the system and/or method of example 1-12 or someother example herein, wherein in a case when bandwidth part (BWP) isemployed for the transmission of data channel, PT-RS pattern in timedomain may be determined in accordance with the bandwidth of BWP.

Example 13 may include the system and/or method of example 1-13 or someother example herein, wherein when sampling rate adaptation is applied,i.e., the number of samples within a block is reduced, the PT-RS grouppattern associated with corresponding data transmission may be adjustedaccordingly

Example 14 may include the system and/or method of example 1-14 or someother example herein, wherein the PT-RS groups are uniformly distributedwithin one data or sub-block

Example 15 may include the system and/or method of example 1-15 or someother example herein, wherein the starting position of PT-RS group maybe determined as a function of cell ID and/or RNTI and/or DMRS portindex the PT-RS is associated with and/or a higher layer configured IDfor the DMRS sequence generation for DMRS port the PT-RS associatedwith.

Example 16 includes an apparatus comprising: means for receiving asignal; means for processing the signal; and means for transmitting aresponse based on the signal comprising means to generate a phasetracking reference signal (PT-RS) associated with a physical downlinkshared channel (PDSCH) with single carrier waveform; means to generate aPT-RS associated with a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) withsingle carrier waveform; wherein the single carrier waveform may includeDiscrete Fourier Transform-spread-OFDM (DFT-s-OFDM) and single carrierwith frequency domain equalizer (SC-FDE).

Example 17 may include the apparatus of Example 17 or some other exampleherein, further comprising means for a group based PT-RS pattern to beapplied for Discrete Fourier Transform-spread-OFDM (DFT-s-OFDM) waveformfor DL transmission; where each group occupies K consecutive samples intime domain prior to DFT operation.

Example 18 may include the apparatus of Example 17-Example 18 or someother example herein, further comprising means for the presence of PT-RSto depend on the Radio Network Temporary Identifier (RNTI) schedulingthe corresponding PDSCH and/or PUSCH.

Example 19 may include the apparatus of Example 17-Example 19 or someother example herein, further comprising means for a default PT-RSpattern to be defined in time and frequency for DFT-s-OFDM waveform;when PDSCH or PUSCH scheduled by PDCCH with C-RNTI, CS-RNTI and/orMCS-RNTI, and the PDCCH format is fall back DCI format, e.g., includingDCI format 0_0 and 1_0, the default PT-RS pattern may be applied, orPT-RS shall not be present.

Example 20 may include the apparatus of Example 17-Example 20 or someother example herein, further comprising means for multipletransmit-receive point (multi-TRP) or multiple panels based operation,wherein orthogonal cover code (OCC) may be applied for the transmissionof PT-RS from different panels or different TRPs.

Example 21 may include the apparatus of Example 17-Example 21 or someother example herein, further comprising means for the PT-RS sequence tobe generated in accordance with at least one of the followingparameters: sub-block/block/slot/frame index, virtual cell ID orphysical cell ID or RNTI or higher layer configured ID used fordemodulation reference signal (DMRS) sequence generation for the DMRSport that the PT-RS is associated with.

Example 22 may include the apparatus of Example 17-Example 22 or someother example herein, further comprising means for PT-RS to be generatedbased on the guard interval (GI) sequence.

Example 23 may include the apparatus of Example 17-Example 23 or someother example herein, further comprising means to apply power boostingfor the transmission of PT-RS.

Example 24 may include the apparatus of Example 17-Example 24 or someother example herein, further comprising means to generate PT-RS basedon a portion of information bits for data transmission

Example 25 may include the apparatus of Example 17-Example 25 or someother example herein, further comprising means to employ a predeterminedmodulation order of PT-RS, e.g., BPSK or QPSK for transmission of PT-RS.

Example 26 may include the apparatus of Example 17-Example 26 or someother example herein, further comprising means to configure modulationorder of PT-RS by higher layers or dynamically indicated by DCI or acombination thereof.

Example 27 may include the apparatus of Example 17-Example 27 or someother example herein, further comprising means to determine PT-RSpattern in time domain in accordance with MCS of a scheduled datatransmission and/or transmission duration in time and/or configured byhigher layers via radio resource control (RRC) signaling or dynamicallyindicated in the downlink control information (DCI) or a combinationthereof.

Example 28 may include the apparatus of Example 17-Example 28 or someother example herein, further comprising means to employ a bandwidthpart (BWP) for transmission of data channel, and means to employ a PT-RSpattern in time domain in accordance with the bandwidth of BWP.

Example 29 may include the apparatus of Example 17-Example 29 or someother example herein, further comprising means to apply sampling rateadaptation, i.e., the number of samples within a block is reduced, thePT-RS group pattern associated with corresponding data transmission maybe adjusted accordingly.

Example 30 may include the apparatus of Example 17-Example 30 or someother example herein, wherein the PT-RS groups are uniformly distributedwithin one data or sub-block.

Example 31 may include the apparatus of Example 17-Example 31 or someother example herein, further comprising means to determine the startingposition of PT-RS group as a function of cell ID and/or RNTI and/or DMRSport index the PT-RS is associated with and/or a higher layer configuredID for the DMRS sequence generation for DMRS port the PT-RS associatedwith.

Example 32 may include the apparatus of Example 17-Example 32 and/orsome other examples herein, wherein the apparatus is implemented in orby a user equipment (UE).

Example 33 includes an apparatus to receive a signal, process thesignal, and transmit another signal based on the processed signalwherein the apparatus may generate a phase tracking reference signal(PT-RS) associated with a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) withsingle carrier waveform; wherein the apparatus may generate a PT-RSassociated with a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) with singlecarrier waveform; wherein the single carrier waveform may includeDiscrete Fourier Transform-spread-OFDM (DFT-s-OFDM) and single carrierwith frequency domain equalizer (SC-FDE).

Example 34 may include the apparatus of Example 34 or some other exampleherein, wherein the apparatus may further apply group based PT-RSpattern for Discrete Fourier Transform-spread-OFDM (DFT-s-OFDM) waveformfor DL transmission, where each group occupies K consecutive samples intime domain prior to DFT operation.

Example 35 may include the apparatus of Example 34-Example 35 or someother example herein, wherein the presence of PT-RS may depend on theRadio Network Temporary Identifier (RNTI) scheduling the correspondingPDSCH and/or PUSCH.

Example 36 may include the apparatus of Example 34-Example 36 or someother example herein, wherein a default PT-RS pattern may be defined intime and frequency for DFT-s-OFDM waveform; when PDSCH or PUSCHscheduled by PDCCH with C-RNTI, CS-RNTI and/or MCS-RNTI, and the PDCCHformat is fall back DCI format, e.g., including DCI format 0_0 and 1_0,the default PT-RS pattern may be applied, or PT-RS shall not be present.

Example 37 may include the apparatus of Example 34-Example 37 or someother example herein, wherein the apparatus may provide multipletransmit-receive point (multi-TRP) or multiple panels based operation,wherein orthogonal cover code (OCC) may be applied for the transmissionof PT-RS from different panels or different TRPs.

Example 38 may include the apparatus of Example 34-Example 38 or someother example herein, wherein the apparatus may generate PT-RS sequencein accordance with at least one of the following parameters:sub-block/block/slot/frame index, virtual cell ID or physical cell ID orRNTI or higher layer configured ID used for demodulation referencesignal (DMRS) sequence generation for the DMRS port that the PT-RS isassociated with.

Example 39 may include the apparatus of Example 34-Example 39 or someother example herein, wherein the apparatus may generate PT-RS based ona guard interval (GI) sequence.

Example 40 may include the apparatus of Example 34-Example 40 or someother example herein, wherein the apparatus may apply power boosting forthe transmission of PT-RS.

Example 41 may include the apparatus of Example 34-Example 41 or someother example herein, wherein the apparatus may generate PT-RS based ona portion of information bits for data transmission.

Example 42 may include the apparatus of Example 34-Example 42 or someother example herein, wherein the apparatus may employ a predeterminedmodulation order of PT-RS, e.g., BPSK or QPSK for transmission of PT-RS.

Example 43 may include the apparatus of Example 34-Example 43 or someother example herein, wherein the apparatus may configure modulationorder of PT-RS by higher layers or dynamically indicated by DCI or acombination thereof.

Example 44 may include the apparatus of Example 34-Example 44 or someother example herein, wherein the apparatus may determine PT-RS patternin time domain in accordance with MCS of a scheduled data transmissionand/or transmission duration in time and/or configured by higher layersvia radio resource control (RRC) signaling or dynamically indicated inthe downlink control information (DCI) or a combination thereof.

Example 45 may include the apparatus of Example 34-Example 45 or someother example herein, wherein the apparatus may employ a bandwidth part(BWP) for transmission of data channel and a PT-RS pattern in timedomain in accordance with the bandwidth of BWP.

Example 46 may include the apparatus of Example 34-Example 46 or someother example herein, wherein the apparatus may apply sampling rateadaptation, i.e., the number of samples within a block is reduced, andthe PT-RS group pattern associated with corresponding data transmissionmay be adjusted accordingly.

Example 47 may include the apparatus of Example 34-Example 47 or someother example herein, wherein the apparatus may uniformly distributePT-RS groups within one data or sub-block.

Example 48 may include the apparatus of Example 34-Example 48 or someother example herein, wherein the apparatus may determine the startingposition of PT-RS group as a function of cell ID and/or RNTI and/or DMRSport index the PT-RS is associated with and/or a higher layer configuredID for the DMRS sequence generation for DMRS port the PT-RS associatedwith.

Example 49 may include the apparatus of Example 34-Example 49 and/orsome other examples herein, wherein the apparatus is implemented in orby a user equipment (IX).

Example 50 includes a method comprising: receiving or causing to receivea signal, processing or causing to process the signal, and transmittingor causing to transmit another signal based on the processed signal,wherein the method comprises generating a phase tracking referencesignal (PT-RS) associated with a physical downlink shared channel(PDSCH) with single carrier waveform, and generating a PT-RS associatedwith a physical uplink shared channel (PDSCH) with single carrierwaveform; wherein the single carrier waveform may include DiscreteFourier Transform-spread-OFDM (DFT-s-OFDM) and single carrier withfrequency domain equalizer (SC-FDE).

Example 51 may include the method of Example 51 or some other exampleherein, further comprising applying group based PT-RS pattern forDiscrete Fourier Transform-spread-OFDM (DFT-s-OFDM) waveform for DLtransmission, where each group occupies K consecutive samples in timedomain prior to DFT operation.

Example 52 may include the method of Example 51-Example 52 or some otherexample herein, wherein the presence of PT-RS may depend on the RadioNetwork Temporary Identifier (RNTI) scheduling the corresponding PDSCHand/or PUSCH.

Example 53 may include the method of Example 51-Example 53 or some otherexample herein, further comprising defining a default PT-RS pattern intime and frequency for DFT-s-OFDM waveform; when PDSCH or PUSCHscheduled by PDCCH with C-RNTI, CS-RNTI and/or MCS-RNTI, and the PDCCHformat is fall back DCI format, e.g., including DCI format 0_0 and 1_0,applying a default PT-RS pattern, or PT-RS shall not be present.

Example 54 may include the method of Example 51-Example 54 or some otherexample herein, further comprising, during multiple transmit-receivepoint (multi-TRP) or multiple panel based operation, applying orthogonalcover code (OCC) for the transmission of PT-RS from different panels ordifferent TRPs.

Example 55 may include the method of Example 51-Example 55 or some otherexample herein, further comprising generating a PT-RS sequence inaccordance with at least one of the following parameters:sub-block/block/slot/frame index, virtual cell ID or physical cell ID orRNTI or higher layer configured ID used for demodulation referencesignal (DMRS) sequence generation for the DMRS port that the PT-RS isassociated with.

Example 56 may include the method of Example 51-Example 56 or some otherexample herein, further comprising generating PT-RS based on a guardinterval (GI) sequence.

Example 57 may include the method of Example 51-Example 57 or some otherexample herein, further comprising applying power boosting for thetransmission of PT-RS.

Example 58 may include the method of Example 51-Example 58 or some otherexample herein, further comprising generating PT-RS based on a portionof information bits for data transmission.

Example 59 may include the method of Example 51-Example 59 or some otherexample herein, further comprising employing a predetermined modulationorder of PT-RS, e.g., BPSK or QPSK for transmission of PT-RS.

Example 60 may include the method of Example 51-Example 60 or some otherexample herein, further comprising configuring modulation order of PT-RSby higher layers or dynamically indicated by DCI or a combinationthereof.

Example 61 may include the method of Example 51-Example 61 or some otherexample herein, further comprising determining PT-RS pattern in timedomain in accordance with MCS of a scheduled data transmission and/ortransmission duration in time and/or configured by higher layers viaradio resource control (RRC) signaling or dynamically indicated in thedownlink control information (DCI) or a combination thereof.

Example 62 may include the method of Example 51-Example 62 or some otherexample herein, further comprising employing a bandwidth part (BWP) fortransmission of data channel and a PT-RS pattern in time domain inaccordance with the bandwidth of BWP.

Example 63 may include the method of Example 51-Example 63 or some otherexample herein, further comprising applying sampling rate adaptation,i.e., the number of samples within a block is reduced, and the PT-RSgroup pattern associated with corresponding data transmission may beadjusted accordingly.

Example 64 may include the method of Example 51-Example 64 or some otherexample herein, further comprising uniformly distributing PT-RS groupswithin one data or sub-block,

Example 65 may include the method of Example 51-Example 65 or some otherexample herein, further comprising determining the starting position ofPT-RS group as a function of cell ID and/or RNTI and/or DMRS port indexthe PT-RS is associated with and/or a higher layer configured. ID forthe DMRS sequence generation for DMRS port the PT-RS associated with.

Example 66 may include the method of Example 51-Example 66 and/or someother examples herein, wherein the method is performed by a userequipment (UE) or a portion thereof.

Example 67 may include an apparatus comprising means to perform one ormore elements of a method described in or related to any of examples1-67, or any other method or process described herein.

Example 68 may include one or more non-transitory computer-readablemedia comprising instructions to cause an electronic device, uponexecution of the instructions by one or more processors of theelectronic device, to perform one or more elements of a method describedin or related to any of examples 1-67, or any other method or processdescribed herein.

Example 69 may include an apparatus comprising logic, modules, orcircuitry to perform one or more elements of a method described in orrelated to any of examples 1-67, or any other method or processdescribed herein.

Example 70 may include a method, technique, or process as described inor related to any of examples 1-67, or portions or parts thereof.

Example 71 may include an apparatus comprising: one or more processorsand one or more computer-readable media comprising instructions that,when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or moreprocessors to perform the method, techniques, or process as described inor related to any of examples 1-67, or portions thereof.

Example 72 may include a signal as described in or related to any ofexamples 1-67, or portions or parts thereof.

Example 73 may include a signal in a wireless network as shown anddescribed herein.

Example 74 may include a method of communicating in a wireless networkas shown and described herein.

Example 75 may include a system for providing wireless communication asshown and described herein.

Example 76 may include a device for providing wireless communication asshown and described herein.

Any of the above-described examples may be combined with any otherexample (or combination of examples), unless explicitly statedotherwise. The foregoing description of one or more implementationsprovides illustration and description, but is not intended to beexhaustive or to limit the scope of embodiments to the precise formdisclosed. Modifications and variations are possible in light of theabove teachings or may be acquired from practice of various embodiments.

FIG. 14A shows a flowchart in accordance with one or more embodiments.The process depicted in FIG. 14A may be executed by a base station(e.g., gNB) in a wireless cellular network. In one or more embodiments,one or more of the steps shown in FIG. 14A may be omitted, repeated,and/or performed in a different order than the order shown in FIG. 14A.Accordingly, the scope should not be considered limited to the specificarrangement of steps shown in FIG. 14A. The steps shown in FIG. 14A maybe implemented as computer-readable instructions stored oncomputer-readable media, where, when the instructions are executed,cause a processor to perform the process of FIG. 14A. Additionally oralternatively, the steps shown in FIG. 14A can be implemented in aprocessor that is hard-coded or processor circuitry, including a statemachine performing particular logic functions.

In step 1405, a phase tracking reference signal (PT-RS) is generated.The phase tracking reference signal may be used for phase shiftcompensation. As discussed above, the need for the PT-RS may bedetermined based on a radio network temporary identifier (RNTI)scheduling the PDSCH.

In one or more embodiments, as discussed above, generation of the PT-RSis based on a default PT-RS pattern in time and frequency when the PDSCHis scheduled by a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) withcell-RNTI, circuit switched-RNTI, or modulation coding scheme-RNTI, andthe PDCCH format is fall back downlink control information (DCI) format.

In one or more embodiments, as discussed above, when DFT-s-OFDM isutilized, the PT-RS is associated with a group-based PT-RS pattern,where each group occupies K consecutive samples in time domain prior toa DFT operation associated with the DFT-s-OFDM.

In one or more embodiments, as discussed above, when SC-FDE is utilized,the PT-RS is generated based on the number of blocks in a slot, the slotindex, and the physical cell ID. Additionally or alternatively, thePT-RS is generated based on a guard interval (GI) associated with a datablock.

In one or more embodiments, as discussed above, when SC-FDE is utilized,the PT-RS may be generated, in part, by encoding information bits, thenpartitioning the information bits into two different portions (e.g.,streams), then modulating and mapping one portion to PT-RS samples. Theother portion is modulated and mapped to data samples.

In one or more embodiments, as discussed above, when SC-FDE is utilized,the PT-RS may be generated, in part, by partition information bits intoa two different portions (e.g., streams). Then, the different portionsare encoded using different encoding schemes. One portion is thenmodulated and mapped to PT-RS samples, while the other portion ismodulated and mapped to data samples.

In one or more embodiments, as discussed above, when SC-FDE is utilized,the PT-RS is based on a pattern. The density of the pattern is based ona bandwidth when using bandwidth parts (MVP).

In one or more embodiments, as discussed above, when SC-FDE is utilized,the PT-RS is associated with multiple of groups, and at least one ofgroups has a starting position based on a radio network temporaryidentifier.

Additional details regarding the generation of the PT-RS in step 1405are disclosed above (e.g., in the examples and figures discussed above).

In Step 1410, the PT-RS is transmitted across a physical downlink sharedchannel (PDSCH) using a transmitter and/or radio front end circuitry.The PT-RS may be transmitted with data. The PT-RS may be transmittedusing DFT-s-OFDM or SC-FDE. Moreover, the carrier frequency may be inexcess of 52.6 GHz.

In one or more embodiments, as discussed above, during multipletransmit-receive point (multi-TRP) or multiple panels operation, anorthogonal cover code (OCC) is applied for transmitting the PT-RS. TheOCC may be based on the number of demodulation reference signal (DMRS)antenna ports.

Additional details regarding the transmission of the PT-RS in step 1410are disclosed above (e.g., in the examples and figures discussed above).

FIG. 14B shows a flowchart in accordance with one or more embodiments.The process depicted in FIG. 149 may be executed by user equipment (UE)in a wireless cellular network. In one or more embodiments, one or moreof the steps shown in FIG. 14B may be omitted, repeated, and/orperformed in a different order than the order shown in FIG. 14B.Accordingly, the scope should not be considered limited to the specificarrangement of steps shown in FIG. 14B. The steps shown in FIG. 14B maybe implemented as computer-readable instructions stored oncomputer-readable media, where, when the instructions are executed,cause a processor to perform the process of FIG. 149. Additionally oralternatively, the steps shown in FIG. 14B can be implemented in aprocessor that is hard-coded or processor circuitry, including a statemachine performing particular logic functions.

In Step 1450, a phase tracking reference signal (PT-RS) is generated.The phase tracking reference signal may be used for phase shiftcompensation. Step 1450 may be essentially the same as Step 1405(discussed above in reference to FIG. 14A), except that Step 1450 isexecuted by user equipment.

Additional details regarding the generation of the PT-RS in step 1450are disclosed above (e.g., in the examples and figures discussed above).

In Step 1455, the PT-RS is transmitted across a physical uplink sharedchannel (PUSCH) using the SC-FDE transmission scheme using a transmitterand/or radio front end circuitry. Moreover, the SC-FDE transmission mayutilize a carrier frequency in excess of 52.6 GHz. Step 1455 may besimilar to Step 1410 (discussed above in reference to FIG. 14A), exceptthat Step 1455 is executed by user equipment and is for the uplink.

Additional details regarding the transmission of the PT-RS in step 1455are disclosed above (e.g., in the examples and figures discussed above).

Abbreviations

For the purposes of the present document, the following abbreviationsmay apply to the examples and embodiments discussed herein.

3GPP Third Generation Partnership Project

4G Fourth Generation

5G Fifth Generation

5GC 5G Core network

ACK Acknowledgement

AF Application Function

AM Acknowledged Mode

AMBR Aggregate Maximum Bit Rate

AMF Access and Mobility Management Function

AN Access Network

ANR Automatic Neighbour Relation

AP Application Protocol, Antenna Port, Access Point

API Application Programming Interface

APN Access Point Name

ARP Allocation and Retention Priority

ARQ Automatic Repeat Request

AS Access Stratum

ASN.1 Abstract Syntax Notation One

AUSF Authentication Server Function

AWGN Additive White Gaussian Noise

BCH Broadcast Channel

BER Bit Error Ratio

BFD Beam Failure Detection

BLER Block Error Rate

BPSK Binary Phase Shift Keying

BRAS Broadband Remote Access Server

BSS Business Support System

BS Base Station

BSR Buffer Status Report

BW Bandwidth

BWP Bandwidth Part

C-RNTI Cell Radio Network Temporary Identity

CA Carrier Aggregation, Certification Authority

CAPEX CAPital EXpenditure

CBRA Contention Based Random Access

CC Component Carrier, Country Code, Cryptographic Checksum

CCA Clear Channel Assessment

CCE Control Channel Element

CCCH Common Control Channel

CE Coverage Enhancement

CDM Content Delivery Network

CDMA Code-Division Multiple Access

CFRA Contention Free Random Access

CG Cell Group

CI Cell Identity

CID Cell-ID (e.g., positioning method)

CIM Common Information Model

CIR Carrier to Interference Ratio

CK Cipher Key

CM Connection Management, Conditional Mandatory

CMAS Commercial Mobile Alert Service

CMD Command

CMS Cloud Management System

CO Conditional Optional

CoMP Coordinated Multi-Point

CORESET Control Resource Set

COTS Commercial Off-The-Shelf

CP Control Plane, Cyclic Prefix, Connection Point

CPD Connection Point Descriptor

CPE Customer Premise Equipment

CPICH Common Pilot Channel

CQI Channel Quality Indicator

CPU CSI processing unit, Central Processing Unit

C/R Command/Response field bit

CRAN Cloud Radio Access Network, Cloud RAN

CRB Common Resource Block

CRC Cyclic Redundancy Check

CRI Channel-State Information Resource Indicator, CSI-RS Resource

Indicator

C-RNTI Cell RNTI

CS Circuit Switched

CSAR Cloud Service Archive

CSI Channel-State Information

CSI-IM CSI Interference Measurement

CSI-RS CSI Reference Signal

CSI-RSRP CSI reference signal received power

CSI-RSRQ CSI reference signal received quality

CSI-SINR CSI signal-to-noise and interference ratio

CSMA Carrier Sense Multiple Access

CSMA/CA CSMA with collision avoidance

CSS Common Search Space, Cell-specific Search Space

CTS Clear-to-Send

CW Codeword

CWS Contention Window Size

D2D Device-to-Device

DC Dual Connectivity, Direct Current

DCI Downlink Control information

DF Deployment Flavour

DL Downlink

DMTF Distributed Management Task Force

DPDK Data Plane Development Kit

DM-RS, DMRS Demodulation Reference Signal

DN Data network

DRB Data Radio Bearer

DRS Discovery Reference Signal

DRX Discontinuous Reception

DSL Domain Specific Language. Digital Subscriber Line

DSLAM DSL Access Multiplexer

DwPTS Downlink Pilot Time Slot

E-LAN Ethernet Local Area Network

E2E End-to-End

ECCA extended clear channel assessment, extended CCA

ECCE Enhanced Control Channel Element, Enhanced CCE

ED Energy Detection

EDGE Enhanced Datarates for GSM Evolution (GSM Evolution)

EGMF Exposure Governance Management Function

EGPRS Enhanced GPRS

EIR Equipment Identity Register

eLAA enhanced Licensed Assisted Access, enhanced LAA

EM Element Manager

eMBB Enhanced Mobile Broadband

EMS Element Management System

eNB evolved NodeB, E-UTRAN Node B

EN-DC E-UTRA-NR Dual Connectivity

EPC Evolved Packet Core

EPDCCH enhanced PDCCH, enhanced Physical Downlink Control Cannel

EPRE Energy per resource element

EPS Evolved Packet System

EREG enhanced REG, enhanced resource element groups

ETSI European Telecommunications Standards Institute

ETWS Earthquake and Tsunami Warning System

eUICC embedded UICC, embedded Universal Integrated Circuit Card

E-UTRA Evolved UTRA

E-UTRAN Evolved UTRAN

EWA Enhanced V2X

F1AP F1 Application Protocol

F1-C F1 Control plane interface

F1-U F1 User plane interface

FACCH Fast Associated Control CHannel

FACCH/F Fast Associated Control Channel/Full rate

FACCH/H Fast Associated Control Channel/Half rate

FACH Forward Access Channel

FAUSCH Fast Uplink Signalling Channel

FB Functional Block

FBI Feedback Information

FCC Federal Communications Commission

FCCH Frequency Correction CHannel

FDD Frequency Division Duplex

FDM Frequency Division Multiplex

FDMA Frequency Division Multiple Access

FE Front End

FEC Forward Error Correction

FFS For Further Study

FFT Fast Fourier Transformation

feLAA further enhanced Licensed Assisted Access, further enhanced. LAA

FN Frame Number

FPGA Field-Programmable Gate Array

FR Frequency Range

G-RNTI GERAN Radio Network Temporary identity

GERAN GSM EDGE RAN, GSM EDGE Radio Access Network

GGSN Gateway GPRS Support Node

GLONASS GLObal'naya NAvigatsionnaya Sputnikovaya Sistema (Engl.: GlobalNavigation Satellite System)

gNB Next Generation NodeB

gNB-CU gNB-centralized unit, Next Generation NodeB centralized unit

gNB-DU gNB-distributed unit, Next Generation NodeB distributed unit

GNSS Global Navigation Satellite System

GPRS General Packet Radio Service

GSM Global System for Mobile Communications, Groupe Special Mobile

GTP GPRS Tunneling Protocol

GTP-U GPRS Tunnelling Protocol for User Plane

GTS Go To Sleep Signal (related to WUS)

GUMMEI Globally Unique MME Identifier

GUTI Globally Unique Temporary UE Identity

HARQ Hybrid ARQ, Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request

HANDO, HO Handover

HFN HyperFrame Number

HHO Hard Handover

HLR Home Location Register

HN Home Network

HO Handover

HPLMN Home Public Land Mobile Network

HSDPA High Speed Downlink Packet Access

HSN Hopping Sequence Number

HSPA High Speed Packet Access

HSS Home Subscriber Server

HSUPA High Speed Uplink Packet Access

HTTP Hyper Text Transfer Protocol

HTTPS Hyper Text Transfer Protocol Secure (https is http/1.1 over SSL,i.e. port 443)

I-Block Information Block

ICCID Integrated Circuit Card. Identification

ICIC Inter-Cell Interference Coordination

ID Identity, identifier

IDFT Inverse Discrete Fourier Transform

IE Information element

IBE In-Band Emission

IEEE Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers

IEI Information Element Identifier

IEIDL Information Element Identifier Data Length

IETF Internet Engineering Task Force

IF Infrastructure

IM Interference Measurement, Intermodulation, IP Multimedia

IMC IMS Credentials

IMEI International Mobile Equipment Identity

IMGI International mobile group identity

IMPI IP Multimedia Private Identity

IMPU IP Multimedia. Public identity

IMS IP Multimedia Subsystem

IMSI International Mobile Subscriber Identity

IoT Internet of Things

IP Internet Protocol

Ipsec IP Security, Internet Protocol Security

IP-CAN IP-Connectivity Access Network

IP-M IP Multicast

IPv4 Internet Protocol Version 4

IPv6 Internet Protocol Version 6

IR Infrared

IS In Sync

IRP integration Reference Point

ISDN Integrated Services Digital Network

ISIM IM Services Identity Module

ISO International Organisation for Standardisation

ISP Internet Service Provider

IWF Interworking-Function

I-WLAN Interworking WLAN

K Constraint length of the convolutional code, USIM Individual key

kB Kilobyte (1000 bytes)

kbps kilo-bits per second

Kc Ciphering key

Ki Individual subscriber authentication key

KPI Key Performance Indicator

KQI Key Quality Indicator

KSI Key Set Identifier

ksps kilo-symbols per second

KVM Kernel Virtual Machine

L1 Layer 1 (physical layer)

L1-RSRP Layer 1 reference signal received power

L2 Layer 2 (data link layer)

L3 Layer 3 (network layer)

LAA Licensed Assisted Access

LAN Local Area Network

LBT Listen Before Talk

LCM LifeCycle Management

LCR Low Chip Rate

LCS Location Services

LCID Logical Channel ID

LI Layer Indicator

LLC Logical Link Control, Low Layer Compatibility

LPLMN Local PLMN

LPP LTE Positioning Protocol

LSB Least Significant Bit

LTE Long Term Evolution

LWA LTE-WLAN aggregation

LWIP LTE/WLAN Radio Level Integration with IPsec Tunnel

LTE Long Term Evolution

M2M Machine-to-Machine

MAC Medium Access Control (protocol layering context)

MAC Message authentication code (security/encryption context)

MAC-A MAC used for authentication and key agreement (TSG T WG3 context)

MAC-I MAC used for data integrity of signalling messages (TSG T WG3context)

MANO Management and Orchestration

MBMS Multimedia Broadcast and Multicast Service

MBSFN Multimedia Broadcast multicast service Single Frequency Network

MCC Mobile Country Code

MCG Master Cell Group

MCOT Maximum Channel Occupancy Time

MCS Modulation and coding scheme

MDAF Management Data Analytics Function

MDAS Management Data Analytics Service

MDT Minimization of Drive Tests

MF Mobile Equipment

MeNB master eNB

MER Message Error Ratio

MGL Measurement Gap Length

MGRP Measurement Gap Repetition Period

MIB Master Information Block, Management Information Base

MIMO Multiple Input Multiple Output

MLC Mobile Location Centre

MM Mobility Management

MME Mobility Management Entity

MN Master Node

MO Measurement Object, Mobile Originated

MPBCH MTC Physical Broadcast CHannel

MPDCCH MTC Physical Downlink Control CHannel

MPDSCH MTC Physical Downlink Shared CHannel

MPRACH MTC Physical Random Access CHannel

MPUSCH MTC Physical Uplink Shared Channel

MPLS MultiProtocol Label Switching

MS Mobile Station

MSB Most Significant Bit

MSC Mobile Switching Centre

MSI Minimum System Information, MCH Scheduling Information

MSID Mobile Station Identifier

MSIN Mobile Station Identification Number

MSISDN Mobile Subscriber ISDN Number

MT Mobile Terminated, Mobile Termination

MTC Machine-Type Communications

mMTC massive MTC, massive Machine-Type Communications

MU-MIMO Multi User MIMO

MWUS MTC wake-up signal, MTC WUS

NACK Negative Acknowledgement

NAI Network Access Identifier

NAS Non-Access Stratum, Non-Access Stratum layer

NCT Network Connectivity Topology

NEC Network Capability Exposure

NE-DC NR-E-UTRA Dual Connectivity

NEF Network Exposure Function

NF Network Function

NFP Network Forwarding Path

NFPD Network Forwarding Path Descriptor

NFV Network Functions Virtualization

NFVI NFV Infrastructure

NFVO NFV Orchestrator

NG Next Generation, Next Gen

NGEN-DC NG-RAN E-UTRA-NR Dual Connectivity

NM Network Manager

NMS Network Management System

N-PoP Network Point of Presence

NMIB, N-MIB Narrowband MIB

NPBCH Narrowband Physical Broadcast CHannel.

NPDCCH Narrowband Physical Downlink Control CHannel

NPDSCH Narrowband Physical Downlink Shared CHannel

NPRACH Narrowband Physical Random Access CHannel

NPUSCH Narrowband Physical Uplink Shared CHannel

NPSS Narrowband Primary Synchronization Signal

NSSS Narrowband Secondary Synchronization Signal

NR New Radio, Neighbour Relation

NRF NF Repository Function

NRS Narrowband Reference Signal

NS Network Service

NSA Non-Standalone operation mode

NSD Network Service Descriptor

NSR Network Service Record

NSSAI ‘Network Slice Selection Assistance Information

S-NNSAI Single-NSSAI

NSSF Network Slice Selection Function

NW Network

NWUS Narrowband wake-up signal, Narrowband WUS

NZP Non-Zero Power

O&M Operation and Maintenance

ODU2 Optical channel Data Unit-type 2

OFDM Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing

OFDMA Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access

OOB Out-of-band

OOS Out of Sync

OPEX OPerating EXpense

OSI Other System Information

OSS Operations Support System

OTA over-the-air

PAPR Peak-to-Average Power Ratio

PAR Peak to Average Ratio

PBCH Physical Broadcast Channel

PC Power Control, Personal Computer

PCC Primary Component Carrier, Primary CC

PCell Primary Cell

PCI Physical Cell ID, Physical Cell Identity

PCEF Policy and Charging Enforcement Function

PCF Policy Control Function

PCRF Policy Control and Charging Rules Function

PDCP Packet Data Convergence Protocol, Packet Data Convergence Protocollayer

PDCCH Physical Downlink Control Channel

PDCP Packet Data Convergence Protocol

PDN Packet Data Network, Public Data Network

PDSCH Physical Downlink Shared Channel

PDU Protocol Data Unit

PEI Permanent Equipment Identifiers

PFD Packet Flow Description

P-GW PDN Gateway

PHICH Physical hybrid-ARQ indicator channel

PRY Physical layer

PLMN Public Land Mobile Network

PIN Personal Identification Number

PM Performance Measurement

PMI Precoding Matrix Indicator

PNF Physical Network Function

PNFD Physical Network Function Descriptor

PNFR Physical Network Function Record

POC PTT over Cellular

PP, PTP Point-to-Point

PPP Point-to-Point Protocol

PRACH Physical RACH

PRB Physical resource block

PRG Physical resource block group

ProSe Proximity Services, Proximity-Based Service

PRS Positioning Reference Signal

PRR Packet Reception Radio

PS Packet Services

PSBCH Physical Sidelink Broadcast Channel

PSDCH Physical Sidelink Downlink Channel

PSCCH Physical Sidelink Control Channel

PSSCH Physical Sidelink Shared Channel

PSCell Primary SCell

PSS Primary Synchronization Signal

PSTN Public Switched Telephone Network

PT-RS Phase-tracking reference signal

PTT Push-to-Talk

PUCCH Physical Uplink Control Channel

PUSCH Physical Uplink Shared Channel

QAM Quadrature Amplitude Modulation

QCI QoS class of identifier

QCL Quasi co-location

QFI QoS Flow ID, QoS Flow Identifier

QoS Quality of Service

QPSK Quadrature (Quaternary) Phase Shift Keying

QZSS Quasi-Zenith Satellite System

RA-RNTI Random Access RNTI

RAB Radio Access Bearer, Random Access Burst

RACH Random Access Channel

RADIUS Remote Authentication Dial In User Service

RAN Radio Access Network

RAND RANDom number (used for authentication)

RAR Random Access Response

RAT Radio Access Technology

RAU Routing Area Update

RB Resource block, Radio Bearer

RBG Resource block group

REG Resource Element Group

Rel Release

REQ REQuest

RF Radio Frequency

RI Rank Indicator

RIV Resource indicator value

RL Radio Link

RLC Radio Link Control, Radio Link Control layer

RLC AM RLC Acknowledged Mode

RLC UM RLC Unacknowledged Mode

RLF Radio Link Failure

RLM Radio Link Monitoring

RLM-RS Reference Signal for RLM

RM Registration Management

RMC Reference Measurement Channel

RMSI Remaining MSI, Remaining Minimum System Information

RN Relay Node

RNC Radio Network Controller

RNL Radio Network Layer

RNTI Radio Network Temporary Identifier

ROHC RObust Header Compression

RRC Radio Resource Control, Radio Resource Control layer

RRM Radio Resource Management

RS Reference Signal

RSRP Reference Signal Received Power

RSRQ Reference Signal Received Quality

RSSI Received Signal Strength Indicator

RSU Road Side Unit

RSTD Reference Signal Time difference

RTP Real Time Protocol

RTS Ready-To-Send

RTT Round Trip Time

Rx Reception, Receiving, Receiver

S1AP S1 Application Protocol

S1-MMF S1 for the control plane

S1-U S1 for the user plane

S-GW Serving Gateway

S-RNTI SRNC Radio Network Temporary Identity

S-TMSI SAF Temporary Mobile Station Identifier

SA Standalone operation mode

SAE System Architecture Evolution

SAP Service Access Point

SAPD Service Access Point Descriptor

SAPI Service Access Point Identifier

SCC Secondary Component Carrier, Secondary CC

SCell Secondary Cell

SC-TDMA Single Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access

SCG Secondary Cell Group

SCM Security Context Management

SCS Subcarrier Spacing

SCTP Stream Control Transmission Protocol

SDAP Service Data Adaptation Protocol, Service Data Adaptation Protocollayer

SDL Supplementary Downlink

SDNF Structured Data Storage Network Function

SDP Service Discovery Protocol (Bluetooth related)

SDSF Structured Data Storage Function

SDU Service Data Unit

SEAF Security Anchor Function

SeNB secondary eNB

SEPP Security Edge Protection Proxy

SFI Slot format indication

SFTD Space-Frequency Time Diversity, SFN and frame timing difference

SFN System Frame Number

SgNB Secondary gNB

SGSN Serving GPRS Support Node

S-GW Serving Gateway

SI System Information

SI-RNTI System Information RNTI

SIB System Information Block

SIM Subscriber Identity Module

SIP Session Initiated Protocol

SiP System in Package

SL Sidelink

SLA Service Level Agreement

SM Session Management

SMF Session Management Function

SMS Short Message Service

SMSF SMS Function

SMTC SSB-based Measurement Timing Configuration

SN Secondary Node, Sequence Number

SoC System on Chip

SON Self-Organizing Network

SpCell Special Cell

SP-CSI-RNTI Semi-Persistent CSI RNTI

SPS Semi-Persistent Scheduling

SON Sequence number

SR Scheduling Request

SRB Signalling Radio Bearer

SRS Sounding Reference Signal

SS Synchronization Signal

SSB Synchronization Signal Block, SS/PBCH Block

SSBRI SS/PBCH Block Resource Indicator, Synchronization Signal BlockResource Indicator

SSC Session and Service Continuity

SS-RSRP Synchronization Signal based Reference Signal Received Power

SS-RSRQ Synchronization Signal based Reference Signal Received Quality

SS-SINR Synchronization Signal based Signal to Noise and InterferenceRatio

SSS Secondary Synchronization Signal

SSSG Search Space Set Group

SSSIF Search Space Set Indicator

SST Slice/Service Types

SU-MIMO Single User MIMO

SUL Supplementary Uplink

TA Timing Advance, Tracking Area

TAC Tracking Area Code

TAG Timing Advance Group

TAU Tracking Area Update

TB Transport Block

TBS Transport Block Size

TBD To Be Defined

TCI Transmission Configuration indicator

TCP Transmission Communication Protocol

TDD Time Division Duplex

TDM Time Division Multiplexing

TDMA Time Division Multiple Access

TE Terminal Equipment

TEID Tunnel End Point identifier

TFT Traffic Flow Template

TMSI Temporary Mobile Subscriber Identity

TNL Transport Network Layer

TPC Transmit Power Control

TPMI Transmitted Precoding Matrix indicator

TR Technical Report

TRP, TRxP Transmission Reception Point

TRS Tracking Reference Signal

TRx Transceiver

TS Technical Specifications, Technical Standard

TTI Transmission Time Interval

Tx Transmission, Transmitting, Transmitter

U-RNTI UTRAN Radio Network Temporary Identity

UART Universal Asynchronous Receiver and Transmitter

UCI Uplink Control Infoiniation

UE User Equipment

UDM Unified Data Management

UDP User Datagram Protocol

UDSF Unstructured Data Storage Network Function

UICC Universal Integrated Circuit Card

UL Uplink

UM Unacknowledged Mode

UML Unified Modelling Language

UMTS Universal Mobile Telecommunications System

UP User Plane

UPF User Plane Function

URI Uniform Resource Identifier

URL Uniform Resource Locator

URLLC Ultra-Reliable and Low Latency

USB Universal Serial Bus

USIM Universal Subscriber Identity Module

USS UE-specific search space

UTRA UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access

UTRAN Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network

UwPTS Uplink Pilot Time Slot

V2I Vehicle-to-Infrastruction

V2P Vehicle-to-Pedestrian

V2V Vehicle-to-Vehicle

V2X Vehicle-to-everything

VIM Virtualized Infrastructure Manager

VL Virtual Link,

VLAN Virtual LAN, Virtual Local Area Network

VM Virtual Machine

VNF Virtualized Network Function

VNFFG VNF Forwarding Graph

VNFFGD VNF Forwarding Graph Descriptor

VNFM VNF Manager

VoIP Voice-over-IP, Voice-over-Internet Protocol

VPLMN Visited Public Land Mobile Network

VPN Virtual Private Network

VRB Virtual Resource Block

WiMAX Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access

WLAN Wireless Local Area Network

WMAN Wireless Metropolitan Area Network

WPAN Wireless Personal Area Network

X2-C X2-Control plane

X2-U X2-User plane

XML eXtensible Markup Language

XRES EXpected user RESponse

XOR eXclusive OR

ZC Zadoff-Chu

ZP Zero Power

Terminology

For the purposes of the present document, the following terms anddefinitions are applicable to the examples and embodiments discussedherein.

The term “circuitry” as used herein refers to, is part of, or includeshardware components such as an electronic circuit, a logic circuit, aprocessor (shared, dedicated, or group) and/or memory (shared,dedicated, or group), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC),a field-programmable device (FPD) (e.g., a field-programmable gate array(FPGA), a programmable logic device (PLD), a complex PLD (CPLD), ahigh-capacity PLD (HCPLD), a structured ASIC, or a programmable SoC),digital signal processors (DSPs), etc., that are configured to providethe described functionality. In some embodiments, the circuitry mayexecute one or more software or firmware programs to provide at leastsome of the described functionality. The term “circuitry” may also referto a combination of one or more hardware elements (or a combination ofcircuits used in an electrical or electronic system) with the programcode used to carry out the functionality of that program code. In theseembodiments, the combination of hardware elements and program code maybe referred to as a particular type of circuitry.

The term “processor circuitry” as used herein refers to, is part of, orincludes circuitry capable of sequentially and automatically carryingout a sequence of arithmetic or logical operations, or recording,storing, and/or transferring digital data. The term “processorcircuitry” may refer to one or more application processors, one or morebaseband processors, a physical central processing unit (CPU), asingle-core processor, a dual-core processor, a triple-core processor, aquad-core processor, and/or any other device capable of executing orotherwise operating computer-executable instructions, such as programcode, software modules, and/or functional processes. The terms“application circuitry” and/or “baseband circuitry” may be consideredsynonymous to, and may be referred to as, “processor circuitry.”

The term “interface circuitry” as used herein refers to, is part of, orincludes circuitry that enables the exchange of information between twoor more components or devices. The term “interface circuitry” may referto one or more hardware interfaces, for example, buses, I/O interfaces,peripheral component interfaces, network interface cards, and/or thelike.

The term “user equipment” or “UE” as used herein refers to a device withradio communication capabilities and may describe a remote user ofnetwork resources in a communications network. The term “user equipment”or “UE” may be considered synonymous to, and may be referred to as,client, mobile, mobile device, mobile terminal, user terminal, mobileunit, mobile station, mobile user, subscriber, user, remote station,access agent, user agent, receiver, radio equipment, reconfigurableradio equipment, reconfigurable mobile device, etc. Furthermore, theterm “user equipment” or “UE” may include any type of wireless/wireddevice or any computing device including a wireless communicationsinterface.

The term “network element” as used herein refers to physical orvirtualized equipment and/or infrastructure used to provide wired orwireless communication network services. The term “network element” maybe considered synonymous to and/or referred to as a networked computer,networking hardware, network equipment, network node, router, switch,hub, bridge, radio network controller, RAN device, RAN node, gateway,server, virtualized VNF, NEVI, and/or the like.

The term “computer system” as used herein refers to any typeinterconnected electronic devices, computer devices, or componentsthereof. Additionally, the term “computer system” and/or “system” mayrefer to various components of a computer that are communicativelycoupled with one another. Furthermore, the term “computer system” and/or“system” may refer to multiple computer devices and/or multiplecomputing systems that are communicatively coupled with one another andconfigured to share computing and/or networking resources.

The term “appliance,” “computer appliance,” or the like, as used hereinrefers to a computer device or computer system with program code (e.g.,software or firmware) that is specifically designed to provide aspecific computing resource. A “virtual appliance” is a virtual machineimage to be implemented by a hypervisor-equipped device that virtualizesor emulates a computer appliance or otherwise is dedicated to provide aspecific computing resource.

The term “resource” as used herein refers to a physical or virtualdevice, a physical or virtual component within a computing environment,and/or a physical or virtual component within a particular device, suchas computer devices, mechanical devices, memory space, processor/CPUtime, processor/CPU usage, processor and accelerator loads, hardwaretime or usage, electrical power, input/output operations, ports ornetwork sockets, channel/link allocation, throughput, memory usage,storage, network, database and applications, workload units, and/or thelike. A “hardware resource” may refer to compute, storage, and/ornetwork resources provided by physical hardware element(s). A“virtualized resource” may refer to compute, storage, and/or networkresources provided by virtualization infrastructure to an application,device, system, etc. The term “network resource” or “communicationresource” may refer to resources that are accessible by computerdevices/systems via a communications network. The term “systemresources” may refer to any kind of shared entities to provide services,and may include computing and/or network resources. System resources maybe considered as a set of coherent functions, network data objects orservices, accessible through a server where such system resources resideon a single host or multiple hosts and are clearly identifiable.

The term “channel” as used herein refers to any transmission medium,either tangible or intangible, which is used to communicate data or adata stream. The term “channel” may be synonymous with and/or equivalentto “communications channel,” “data communications channel,”“transmission channel,” “data transmission channel,” “access channel,”“data access channel,” “link,” “data link,” “carrier,” “radiofrequencycarrier,” and/or any other like term denoting a pathway or mediumthrough which data is communicated. Additionally, the term “link” asused herein refers to a connection between two devices through a RAT forthe purpose of transmitting and receiving information.

The terms “instantiate,” “instantiation,” and the like as used hereinrefers to the creation of an instance. An “instance” also refers to aconcrete occurrence of an object, which may occur, for example, duringexecution of program code.

The terms “coupled,” “communicatively coupled,” along with derivativesthereof are used herein. The term “coupled” may mean two or moreelements are in direct physical or electrical contact with one another,may mean that two or more elements indirectly contact each other butstill cooperate or interact with each other, and/or may mean that one ormore other elements are coupled or connected between the elements thatare said to be coupled with each other. The term “directly coupled” maymean that two or more elements are in direct contact with one another.The term “communicatively coupled” may mean that two or more elementsmay be in contact with one another by a means of communication includingthrough a wire or other interconnect connection, through a wirelesscommunication channel or ink, and/or the like.

The term “information element” refers to a structural element containingone or more fields. The term “field” refers to individual contents of aninformation element, or a data element that contains content.

The term “SMTC” refers to an SSB-based measurement timing configurationconfigured by SSB-MeasurementTimingConfiguration.

The term “SSB” refers to an SS/PBCH block.

The term “a “Primary Cell” refers to the MCG cell, operating on theprimary frequency, in which the UE either performs the initialconnection establishment procedure or initiates the connectionre-establishment procedure.

The term “Primary SCG Cell” refers to the SCG cell in which the UEperforms random access when performing the Reconfiguration with Syncprocedure for DC operation.

The term “Secondary Cell” refers to a cell providing additional radioresources on top of a Special Cell for a UE configured with CA.

The term “Secondary Cell Group” refers to the subset of serving cellscomprising the PSCell and zero or more secondary cells for a UEconfigured with DC.

The term “Serving Cell” refers to the primary cell for a UE inRRC_CONNECTED not configured with CA/DC there is only one serving cellcomprising of the primary cell.

The term “serving cell” or “serving cells” refers to the set of cellscomprising the Special Cell(s) and all secondary cells for a UE inRRC_CONNECTED configured with CA/.

The term “Special Cell” refers to the PCell of the MCG or the PSCell ofthe SCG for DC operation; otherwise, the term “Special Cell” refers tothe Pcell.

It is to be appreciated that the Detailed Description section, and notthe Summary and Abstract sections, is intended to be used to interpretthe claims. The Summary and Abstract sections may set forth one or morebut not all exemplary embodiments of the present invention ascontemplated by the inventor(s), and thus, are not intended to limit thepresent invention and the appended claims in any way.

The present invention has been described above with the aid offunctional building blocks illustrating the implementation of specifiedfunctions and relationships thereof. The boundaries of these functionalbuilding blocks have been arbitrarily defined herein for the convenienceof the description. Alternate boundaries can be defined so long as thespecified functions and relationships thereof are appropriatelyperformed.

The foregoing description of the specific embodiments will so fullyreveal the general nature of the invention that others can, by applyingknowledge within the skill of the art, readily modify and/or adapt forvarious applications such specific embodiments, without undueexperimentation, without departing from the general concept of thepresent invention. Therefore, such adaptations and modifications areintended to be within the meaning and range of equivalents of thedisclosed embodiments, based on the teaching and guidance presentedherein. It is to be understood that the phraseology or terminologyherein is for the purpose of description and not of limitation, suchthat the terminology or phraseology of the present specification is tobe interpreted by the skilled artisan in light of the teachings andguidance.

1. One or more computer-readable media (CRM) comprising instructions to,upon execution of the instructions by one or more processors of a basestation, cause the base station to: generate a phase tracking referencesignal (PT-RS) for phase shift compensation; and transmit the PT-RS overa physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) using a single-carrier basedwaveform comprising a carrier frequency.
 2. The CRM of claim 1, whereinthe single-carrier based waveform is Discrete FourierTransform-spread-orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (DFT-s-OFDM)and the carrier frequency is in excess of 52.6 GHz.
 3. The CRM of claim2, further comprising instructions that, upon execution by the one ormore processors, cause the base station to determine the PT-RSresponsive to a radio network temporary identifier (RNTI) scheduling thePDSCH.
 4. The CRM of claim 3, wherein the PT-RS is based on a defaultPT-RS pattern in time and frequency when the PDSCH is scheduled by aphysical downlink control channel (PDCCH) with cell-RNTI, circuitswitched-RNTI, or modulation coding scheme-RNTI, and the PDCCH format isfall back downlink control information (DCI) format.
 5. The CRM of claim3, wherein the PT-RS is associated with a group-based PT-RS pattern,wherein each group occupies K consecutive samples in time domain priorto a DFT operation associated with the DFT-s-OFDM.
 6. The CRM of claim5, further comprising instructions that, upon execution, cause the basestation to: apply an orthogonal cover code (OCC) for transmitting thePT-RS during multiple transmit-receive point (multi-TRP) or multiplepanels operation, wherein the OCC is based on a plurality ofdemodulation reference signal (DMRS) antenna ports.
 7. The CRM of claim6, wherein K equals the number of DMRS antenna ports.
 8. The CRM ofclaim 1, wherein the single-carrier based waveform is single carrierwith frequency domain equalizer (SC-FDE), and wherein the carrierfrequency is in excess of 52.6 GHz.
 9. The CRM of claim 8, wherein thePT-RS is generated based on the number of blocks in a slot, the slotindex, and the physical cell ID.
 10. The CRM of claim 8, wherein thePT-RS is based on a guard interval (GI) associated with a data block.11. The CRM of claim 8, further comprising instructions that, uponexecution, cause the base station to: encode a plurality of informationbits; partition, after encoding, the plurality of information bits intoa first portion and a second portion; modulate and map the first portionto PT-RS samples; and modulate and map the second portion to datasamples.
 12. The CRM of claim 8, further comprising instructions that,upon execution, cause the base station to: partition a plurality ofinformation bits into a first portion and a second portion; encode,after partitioning, the first portion and second portion with differentencoding schemes; modulate and map the first portion to PT-RS samples;and modulate and map the second portion to data samples.
 13. The CRM ofclaim 8, wherein the PT-RS is based on a pattern comprising a density,and wherein the density of the pattern is based on a bandwidth ofbandwidth part (BWP).
 14. The CRM of claim 8, wherein the PT-RS isassociated with groups uniformly distributed within one data block. 15.The CRM of claim 8, wherein the PT-RS is associated with a plurality ofgroups, and wherein at least one of the plurality of groups comprises astarting position based on a radio network temporary identifier.
 16. Amethod for operating a user equipment (UE), comprising: generating aphase tracking reference signal (PT-RS) for phase shift compensation;and transmitting the PT-RS across a physical uplink shared channel(PUSCH) using a single carrier with frequency domain equalizer (SC-FDE).17. The method claim 16, further comprising: partitioning a plurality ofinformation bits into a first portion and a second portion; encoding,after partitioning, the first portion and second portion with differentencoding schemes; modulating and mapping the first portion to PT-RSsamples; and modulating and mapping the second portion to data samples.18. The method of claim 17, wherein the PT-RS is associated with groupsuniformly distributed within one data block.
 19. A user equipment (UE),comprising: processor circuitry configured to generate a phase trackingreference signal (PT-RS) for phase shift compensation; and radiofrequency front end circuitry configured to transmit the PT-RS across aphysical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) using a single-carrier basedwaveform comprising a carrier frequency.
 20. The UE of claim 19, whereinthe processor circuitry is further configured to: partition a pluralityof information bits into a first portion and a second portion; encode,after partitioning, the first portion and second portion with differentencoding schemes; modulate and map the first portion to PT-RS samples;and modulate and map the second portion to data samples.